The Trekkie Trio as Adults
by iLuvHawkeye
Summary: What if the Trekkie Trio had met as adults instead of teens? Would they still get along? btw, this story will be kind of strange; be warned! Adding a twist to this: it will definitely be unrealistic!
1. Val and Mara Meet

A/N: This will include the trio from 'Attack of the Trekkie Trio', 'The Trio Broken', 'Destination: Unknown', and 'MASH 4077 Meets the Trio'. If you haven't read at least AOTTT, I would suggest reading it first so you can get a better grasp on the characters here. Romulan Empress owns AOTTT and TTB, and I own the last two. This will be a 'what if' story, like what if the Trekkie Trio had met as adults instead of teens? Here we go!

Mara shoved the door open in agitation, and slid down the cool wall onto the bench outside the OR to run a hand through her mussed hair. She didn't want to look in a mirror as she already knew what she would see. She would see a tired, old-looking woman with crow's feet around her eyes and blurry eyes that could hardly stay open. After operating for nearly 14 hours, she was exhausted. She had been on call for the whole week and she had been called in every single day/night without fail.

She leaned her head back against the wall and sighed. "Girl, you're 28, and you're already wanting to retire. What is wrong with this picture?"

"Mara!" a nurse called from down the hallway. Mara didn't bother lifting her head. It was Beth, a nurse who was always the one who called Mara from her bed. When Mara was alive, she had no problems with Beth, but when she was dead on her feet, like now, she could almost strangle her.

"You're needed in OR again," Beth said, looking over a clipboard. "What is it?" Mara asked, her eyes too heavy to lift. "Some kid busted his femur," Beth answered. Mara groaned. "I hate operating on kids," she mumbled as she forced herself up. "You're off after this case," Beth told her. "Fine, yeah, whatever," Mara growled as she banged the door open to OR.

.........................AN HOUR OR SO LATER....................

Mara stripped off her gloves. The operation they had just done was relatively simple; they merely put the femur back in place. Yet it was tiresome and took a while. She grabbed her purse from the doctor's lounge and exited the hospital without saying a word to anyone.

She glanced down at her green nurse's outfit and grimaced in distaste. Then she glanced up at the sky. As she didn't have a watch, she would have to guess what time it was. "Mm...I'd say 10 AM," she murmured to herself. "Good. I'm going to Starbucks, and then home to watch a movie, eat a pint of ice cream, curl up in a blanket, and sleep."

With these wonderful thoughts bouncing around in her head, she walked as briskly as possible to the Starbucks around the corner.

................AT STARBUCKS.................

Valerie glanced up from where she was waiting for her café as a woman walked in. She surveyed her with a careful eye. The woman had dark chestnut colored hair with streaks of blonde-not enough to look cheesy, but just enough to look real-and she was wearing a green outfit. She looked very exhausted and...probably old for her years, she supposed. 'Nurse', she thought to herself as she returned to her magazine.

She knew that she should be working on one of her cases, or on her latest book, but she couldn't help herself. The fact that a U.S. Senator was coming to the town was too interesting. She wondered what crap he was spreading around.

Mara walked to the counter and ordered her usual: double café mocha, which was by far her favorite drink. She went to sit down at a table by a woman who seemed deeply involved with a magazine with a U.S. senator on the front cover. 'Erik Black', it pronounced in bold colors. 'Hmm...' Mara thought to herself. 'Wonder what he'll do. Wonder if I'll meet him...' She looked the woman who was reading the magazine over. The woman had auburn hair that was wavy and long, but now was put up in a neat ponytail, and her eyes were an emerald green. She was dressed in a business suit, and had a briefcase beside her, along with a stack of loose papers.

Mara peered at one of the top papers. "Beyond the World's Barriers', it read, and had several paragraphs of writing in a very neat, curly hand-writing.

"Um, excuse me," Mara said to the woman. The woman put down her magazine and raised her eyebrow. " 'Beyond the World's Barriers'...are you writing a book?" The woman sat up straighter and smiled a bit. "Yes. I'm a freelance author, and a lawyer as well."

"Ah," Mara nodded. "If you don't mind my saying so, it seems very odd that a lawyer would write books in her spare time." The lawyer smiled wider. "Well...I'm not very normal. I'm extremely odd." Mara leaned back a little bit, digesting this information. "I...see," she said.

The waitress brought two cups over to the two tables, and put one down on each one and scurried off to return to the kitchen. Mara sniffed her drink and made a face. "I don't think this is mine," she said. "This isn't mine, either," the woman said. They glanced at each other, looked in their cups, and exchanged them. Each took a long drink and then sighed in satisfaction as the caffeine started taking effect.

"Mara East," Mara said, holding her hand out. "Valerie Shadow," the woman answered, shaking Mara's hand. "I take it you're a nurse?" Valerie asked Mara. "Yes," Mara answered. "I just had to want to save people's lives, and now look where it got me." Valerie laughed. "I've been on call all week, and haven't gotten more than twelve hours sleep in four days," Mara sighed. "So what's your book about?"

"It's about these three people who journey past the world's barriers," Valerie explained. "When I say the world, I mean the earth. They use their intelligence and work together to build a ship that can carry them across the galaxy within 30 days. And they embark on adventures together."

"Sounds interesting," Mara remarked, downing more coffee. "Who are the characters?" Valerie blushed slightly. "I actually put myself in it," she said. "And the other characters are Erik Black (merely a coincidence about the senator) and..." She gave Mara a strange look.

"What?" Mara asked. "Valerie Shadow, Erik Black, and Mara East," she whispered. Mara sat back in her seat with a thud. They sat in silence for a while, and finally looked at each other. "We never met before, did we?" Mara asked presently.

Valerie shook her head. "I don't think so," she answered. "Wow. That's a pretty big coincidence," Mara said. Valerie nodded in agreement.

Despite this strange happening of events, the two women got over it and began to talk more and more about themselves and their lives. They sat in the Starbucks for almost two hours just talking, until the manager told them they had to leave unless they were going to buy more coffee.

So, they exchanged phone numbers, and went their separate ways: Mara to her bed, and Valerie to her office and eventually writing desk.

Later that evening, when Mara had awoken from her nap, she curled up in her favorite chair alongside her cat, Snowflake, with cold chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and a steaming cup of hot chocolate to contrast while watching one of her favorite movies, 'An Affair to Remember' with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

Just as they were debating about where to meet in six months, her phone jangled. Mara jumped, her spoon flying into the air, which startled Snowflake so much that he leaped down and hissed at the phone, his hair standing on end and his claws scratching her wood floors. Mara sighed, gasping for breath, and finally picked up the phone, irritated now because she figured it was Beth calling for her to come in again.

"Look, Beth, I have been on call all week long, and I _refuse _to come in now." There was silence on the other line for a while and Valerie's voice said, "Um...maybe I should call back later."

"Oh, no! Valerie, don't hang up. I'm sorry, I thought it was Beth calling for me to come in to the hospital," Mara said, picking up her spoon and trying to soothe Snowflake by letting him lick it.

"Oh, I see."

"So what do you need?" Mara asked, glancing at the spoon which by now was licked clean by Snowflake, and then licking it herself to make sure there wasn't anything left before getting another spoonful of ice cream.

"Oh, I just called to talk." "Oh." There was a pause until Mara said, "So...how was your day?"

"Rough," Valerie answered with a sigh. "I had cases all day long and only got to write a little bit. Did you know that the senator is coming in to look at the hospital?" "Really?" Mara asked with interest. "Why?"

"Probably just to make some publicity," Valerie answered. "I think he's supposed to be handing out toys or something." "Why is a U.S. senator even bothering?" Mara asked, taking a sip of hot chocolate and wincing as it scalded her throat.

"Who knows?" came Valerie's reply. "I don't really care. As long as he doesn't bug me, then I'm fine with him here." "I take it you aren't fond of politics?" Mara laughed softly, and petted Snowflake's white fur, as he had finally decided to forgive both her and the phone by curling up beside her and purring like a steam engine.

"Not in the least," Valerie answered. "Surely he can't be that bad," Mara said. "I'm sure he's a nice enough guy." "Yeah...maybe," Valerie said, clearly unconvinced.

The two switched subjects and talked for about two more hours before Valerie said that she had to go because she wanted to work on her book a little more, and Mara wanted to finish her movie before she went to bed again to prepare for another long day. And so they hung up.

Mara started the movie again, and cried all the way through the end. Then she fell asleep on the sofa after setting the alarm clock, with Snowflake on her chest and an empty container of ice cream lying on the floor.

Valerie wrote a few more chapters before falling asleep on her desk, forgetting that her briefcase still needed to be emptied.

.......................THE NEXT DAY.....................

Mara walked into the hospital feeling a little more alive than dead today, and feeling that all was right with the world. Everyone was dashing around in a hurry, cleaning different things, straightening other different things, et cetera.

"What's the rush?" Mara asked one of the nurses, who had stopped to get a drink of water. "The senator's coming!" she gasped, and dashed off again. "All this fuss for a senator?" Mara wondered. "What for?"

She put her stuff away and went up to her ward, where she did her normal duties until about 11:00 AM, and that was when the senator came. She was downstairs getting more penicillin, as they were out upstairs, when the senator entered. She glanced him over with a careless eye, and immediately understood why Valerie wasn't that psyched about him being here.

He looked like a perfectionist, someone who always did everything right, and smugly knew he was right. Mara rolled her eyes. She had met too many of his kind in college, and they had annoyed her to heck.

Just then, the medical supervisor rushed up to him and shook his hand and started saying something. Trust George to stick his foot in his mouth, Mara shook her head. As she got the penicillin and started heading upstairs, the senator came over to her. "Hello," he said pleasantly, sticking his hand out.

Mara juggled the penicillin enough to shake his hand, smile, and say hello, and then immediately started to walk upstairs. He followed persistently, dogging her footsteps.

"May I help you?" she turned around, her smile strained. He smiled. "You look like someone I once knew," he said. "Really. How fascinating. It couldn't be me, I've never known you," she said, starting to go upstairs again. "Mind if we have coffee later?" Erik asked. "I want to annoy you more."

Mara groaned. "You're a U.S. senator," she said to him. "Somehow, I don't think that senators annoy people." "This one does," Erik answered. "Tough," Mara replied, and walked quickly upstairs to escape his-annoying-presence.

..................ERIK'S PERSPECTIVE.............

As soon as he had walked in the hospital, Erik knew that that nurse was like one of the people he despised. Think they know everything, but they don't. He had no problem with annoying people who thought they were all that. He did it in every town; sometimes, however, the people who he chose to annoy actually turned out to be pretty good friends.

Yeah, yeah, so this was a strange way for a senator to behave. So what? If he wanted to get a little enjoyment out of being annoying to people, what the heck?

He smiled and pursued the nurse upstairs, where she refused to look at him.

......................LATER...................

Mara moaned. Why on earth would a senator decide to annoy her all day? It made absolutely no sense. He was a _senator_ for pete's sake! Other people chose to annoy her as well, but he took the cake.

She dashed out of the hospital before he could call her "kiddo" one more time and ran to Starbucks like her life depended on it.

Erik was disappointed. Oh well, she'd be back tomorrow. And he could torment her more. He grinned sinisterly as he and the media walked out of the hospital.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know that the last part didn't really make sense, but I've just had one of the scares of my life (for Val, Erik, and Nats, who were on the phone when I had it, you'll understand), so my thoughts are a bit jumbled, and I wasn't actually sure how to make Mara and Erik meet and disagree, so I just did it this way. Before you flame me, realize that this story is **_unrealistic._** It's meant to be that way. Deal with it. Erik, sorry if your character is out of character, but I don't know you that well, so forgive me. Nats, I'm sorry!! I'll put you in the next story, I swear!!

A/N2: The Star Trek-ness will come later on in the story. Forgive me!


	2. The Trio Established

Valerie wasn't quite sure how it had happened. One second, she had been sitting there, at Starbucks again, sipping her coffee, and the next second, she was engaged in lively conversation with Erik Black.

She had thought that she would most definitely hate him. Wow. Had she ever been wrong. He was possibly one of the nicest people she had met.

It had started out with him coming over to pleasantly ask the time, and then he enquired about her book. She answered, and before too long, it was like they had known each other all their lives.

Just then, Valerie had a superb idea. Didn't Mara want to meet this guy? At least, that's what she had gathered from the phone conversation last night. "Hey, can you meet me here in about five hours?" she asked Erik. "I want you to meet a friend of mine."

"Sure," he answered. "Great," Valerie said, and after looking at her watch, slung her purse over her shoulder and bid him good-bye.

...................IN THE WINDY NEW YORK STREETS...................

Mara sighed as her cell-phone began chirping cheerfully, and flipped it open and uttered a tired, "Hello." "Hey, Mar? Can you meet me at Starbucks in like fifteen minutes?" Valerie asked. "Um..." Mara, a little startled by Valerie, the straight-laced lawyer calling her 'Mar', was a little slow to answer. "Yeah, I guess. Sure."

"'K. Great." And Valerie hung up. Mara flipped her phone down only to have it _bing_ again. 'You have a voice message,' the screen announced. Mara typed in a few numbers, and listened, trying to keep herself warm but failing miserably.

The voice that came on was less than welcome. "Hey, kiddo," the senator's voice sounded. "Just wanted to say hi..." Mara didn't hear anymore because she was too busy screaming in despair. She would never escape this lunatic!

..................STARBUCKS..................

Valerie and Erik had already arrived and Mara was a few minutes late. Just then, she blustered in, letting cold winds enter the warm coffee house, and several people looked at her in annoyance.

"You will not believe this," Mara prattled when she saw Valerie and not Erik. "This crazy, lunatic senator has..." Just then she caught sight of Erik. She fell to her knees and screamed to the ceiling, "Why? Why are you torturing me this way?" Heads turned to stare at the insane woman who was sobbing on the floor about her misfortune to have ever met a U.S. senator.

Valerie pulled her up before the owner could shove her out and yanked her into a seat beside her and Erik.

She looked from one to the other, and they were both staring at each other sullenly, Mara pouting slightly and Erik with a dubious look on his face. "I take it you've met each other," Valerie said.

"This moron was bugging me all day at the hospital and now somehow he _has my cell-phone number!!_" Mara hissed, glaring angrily at him.

By now, Erik was getting pissed off at her. "Also your home phone number, the numbers of all your friends, and a list of previous boyfriends and hook-ups, and your criminal record," he shot back.

Mara growled deep in her throat, but Erik merely smiled smugly. "By the way, Mara, that was a very unfortunate incident-with the beer, the bra, lipstick, and mascara on the college dean? Tsk tsk. And on your graduation day too."

By now Mara was turning beet red and madder than hell. But before she could say a word, Valerie slapped a hand over both their mouths to shut them up. Everyone was already looking at them in vague interest to see who the senator's sparring partner was.

"Both of you, shut up and get along," she mumbled to them. "Honestly. The reason I invited you all here today-""Is because all of you did something horrible to me years ago," Mara continued, her voice slightly muffled. "And I will now reveal the murderer-"

Valerie pulled her hair and Mara yelped. "Why didn't I think of that?" Erik wondered. Valerie shot him a look and he shut up. "I invited you here today because I have three tickets to go and see _The Phantom of the Opera_, and I wanted to take my two best friends along with me."

"**_WHAT_**???" both Mara and Erik shrieked. "He's your best friend?" Mara cried, pointing at Erik. "She's your best friend?" Erik yelped, pointing at Mara. "HOW???" they both said in unison. Valerie rolled her eyes.

"You two are the closest things to friends I have, and I hate going to see plays alone. Will you come?"

The two looked at each other reluctantly, and then at Valerie who was looking at them pleadingly. "Fine," Mara mumbled. "IF he promises not to play any practical jokes." "I don't play practical jokes," Erik said. "And only if SHE promises to not make me annoyed." "ME make YOU annoyed?" Mara said, getting angry again.

"Then it's settled," Valerie said hastily, before they could get into another argument. "Here are your tickets," she said, handing them two tickets. "Should we have someone drive and pick the others up, or-""I will," Mara interrupted. "I love driving." She smiled evilly. "Why do I get the feeling you're one of those reckless drivers?" Erik asked nervously.

Mara merely laughed. And so the date was set.

..................AT THE HOSPITAL....................

Mara felt good. It was a wonderful day. Her hair was in her favorite hairstyle, a sloppy braid, she had changed out of her nurse's uniform into sweats, and she was sitting on a sofa in the doctor's lounge doing paperwork and filing reports while on lunch break. Just then, a familiar yet uninvited presence entered the room.

She glanced up. "Hello, senator," she said, and then returned to her paperwork. "Hello, nurse," Erik replied, sitting down on the couch beside her and leaning his head back. Mara looked at him and saw that he looked very haggard and worn.

"What do you need?" she asked him, while signing her signature in a sloppy manner. "Peace," he groaned, running a hand through his light brown hair. "I despise the press." "Hmph," Mara said, flipping sheets rapidly.

There was silence for a moment, and then she said, "Look. I think we need to make a truce." Erik looked at her out of the corner of his eye, trying to figure out whether or not she was either telling the truth or was going to pull out a gun and shoot him six times in the chest.

"What for?" he eventually asked cautiously. "For Valerie's sake," Mara answered. "She deserves to have a good time. Anyway, maybe we can...maybe, I said...get along." There was more silence, and finally Erik agreed, "Okay. Sure. For Valerie's sake. Although I'm still going to call you 'kidolean'."

Mara allowed herself a laugh, and threw a pillow at his head. "Ow!" he complained, and shoved her. "Ow cubed!" Mara moaned, rubbing her shoulder. "You hit hard." "You can't throw worth beans," he said with a grin. Mara laughed, and Erik left, trying to dodge the paparazzi, but failing.

She grinned slightly. Well, she hoped Valerie would have a good time at least.

A/N: Sorry for stopping here, but I need to do homework and call Erik and Val before doing that, and I figured I would let you all suffer-mwa ha ha ha-oh, and by the way, Vallie-UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	3. A Few Delays

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long (not like anyone has read it besides Val) Mucho gracias, Vallie! I am not sure what people wear to Broadway plays, so I'm just going to guess.

Erik groaned as he heard an engine rev and tires squeal as they came around the corner and a yellow sports car jerked to a stop at the front of the hotel stairway where he was waiting.

Loud music was pulsating from the car, and the window rolled down and Mara leaned out to grin at him. He rolled his eyes to the sky. She was dressed in a red tank top and faded, ripped jeans, and from what he could guess, sneakers were tapping impatiently on the gas pedal, causing it to make a vroom-ing sound several times. Quite a contrast to his suit.

"Get in!" she shouted over the music. "You are not wearing that!" he berated her as he got into the car and clapped his hands over his ears to try and maintain his hearing.

"Why not?" Mara shouted back. "Because it is a _Broadway play_," Erik screamed at the top of his lungs just as Mara turned off the radio. His words travelled miles, throughout the car and out of it, causing several bystanders to hush and stare at the car.

Mara stifled her laughter, and Erik gritted his teeth. "You did that on purpose, did you not?" he asked her. "I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about!" Mara choked on her laughter and for a few moments struggled to keep herself calm. She then looked at him, a wicked grin on her face. "Ready to pick up Val?"

Before Erik could answer, she swung the car into gear and the tires squealed as she swung out onto the highway. Erik clung onto his locked door in terror as Mara whooped in delight and hit 95 mph, zooming along a back road, effectively avoiding traffic.

"Could you slow down, please?" Erik screamed at her. Mara looked at him incredulously. "Go _faster_?" she called back. "Okay!" "NO!" Erik screamed, but Mara's foot increased its pressure on the gas pedal, and they hit 110 mph.

Moments later, they squealed to a stop in front of Valerie's house. Erik was frozen in his seat, his hand clutching the door handle in a white knuckled grip, his eyes wide and his face quivering.

Val came out of the house dressed in a long black evening dress that bared one of her shoulders. She was wearing elegant black heels, and her red hair was up in a bun, with slight wisps falling around her face. When she opened the door she gasped at the sight of a petrified Erik and a street-rat-looking Mara. "Oh, Mara!" she gasped as she got in. "What...I mean..."

"Hi, Val," she said cheerfully. "What do you think?" "Of what?" Valerie asked incredulously, easing into the seat beside Erik, and yanking his hand off the door handle, but it remained in a claw-like grip. "I think he's shocking!" Valerie said, waving a hand in front of Erik's face. He didn't respond.

"Nah," Mara said, easing into traffic at a decent speed. "If he was shocking, I'd know." Valerie looked back and forth at the two, trying to decipher what had happened.

She gave up and moved on to her next subject. "Mara, why are you wearing that outfit?" she asked. "Well, why shouldn't I?" Mara asked, glancing down at her outfit in genuine confusion.

"Because it is a Broadway play!" Valerie protested. "So?" Mara asked, turning onto a rock station where Gwen Stefani was playing. Valerie looked at the paralyzed Erik and said, "Erik, if you can hear me, get up and help me get Mara out of the driving seat and to my house before the play starts."

The idea of Mara out of the driver's seat was apparently strong enough to wrest Erik from his paralysis. He twitched violently one last time, and lunged at Mara with a fierce shout. Mara screamed and the car swerved to a stop. The sports convertible rocked a few times and muffled shouts and screams could be heard.

A few moments later, the car started up again, this time with Valerie at the wheel. Mara was sitting in the back, her hands tied together with some rope that Erik had found in the glove compartment.

"Oh, come on!" Mara complained loudly, twisting her wrists and wincing as they were burned by the ropes. "I'm innocent! You can't just kidnap me! And don't wreck my car!"

"Valerie will not drive 110 mph," Erik said, glaring at her. She glared right back, despite the fact that they both had the advantage.

"We are not kidnapping you," Val said in her lawyer-calm manner. "We are taking you back to my house to get you into a suitable outfit. Got it?" "I do not want to wear a dress!" Mara said. "I haven't worn a dress in over ten years, and I do not plan to break that record tonight!"

"Wanna bet?"

Mara growled. "We only have about an hour," Val said worriedly. "Think we can make it?" "No problem," Erik said. "We'll find her a _dress_," he said, emphasizing 'dress', "and we'll be there before the first act is finished." Mara rolled her eyes to the sky in desperation. "_You _aren't going to dress me, are you?" she asked, the question pointed at Erik.

He recoiled, his face turning a deep red, as did Mara's. "NO!" he cried. "Well, what am I supposed to expect from a stupid senator who knows everything about me besides my shoe size?" she cried in protest. "6 and a half," Erik answered promptly as Val said, "Grow up, Mara. I don't think you ever got out of puberty."

"Nope!" Mara said with an ounce of cheerfulness. "I'm just an over-grown teenager without any zits and a dirty mind."

"That's apparent," Erik said dryly.

They arrived at Val's house a few moments later, and they wrestled Mara out of the car as she clutched onto the door and screamed that she didn't want to go. Curious neighbors peeked out of their windows as Valerie waved in embarrassment, and wrenched Mara's hair, an effective technique.

Mara yelped and scurried into the house to avoid her hair being pulled from her scalp.

...............................A HALF HOUR LATER........................

"Could you hurry up?" Erik yelled through the thick wooden door. "We are!" Valerie answered, grunting. "Mara isn't cooperating!" There was an _oof_ and Erik winced as he anticipated Valerie's bruise.

Then, there was the sound of a body hitting the floor, and Mara said, "Okay, okay! Please do _not _throw me again!" "Get in here," Valerie ordered. There were some more scuffles and scrapes and _oof_s, but a few moments later, Valerie opened the door, looking calm and collected, brushing her hair from her face.

"Come on, Mara!" she called. "No!" came Mara's muffled voice. "I don't want to go out in public looking like a...a..." "A civilized human being?" Valerie finished. "No!" Mara retorted. "Civilized human beings wear casual clothes." "No, _apes _wear the clothes you wear," Val said. "Or at least, they're fit for apes."

Finally, persuaded by the fact that they were going to miss the play, Mara stepped reluctantly out of the room. "Wow," Erik said. "You do good work," he said to Valerie. "I know," Val said, smiling proudly at her creation.

Mara was dressed in a silky, strapless green dress that came down to about her knees and was wearing green slipper-like shoes, kind of like moccasins. Her hair was falling around her shoulders as Valerie had finally given up in putting the stubborn hair into a scrunchie or bun. In short, she looked like a civilized human being instead of the ape that she usually looked like.

"Wow," Erik said again. Mara pouted. "Are people going to hit on me?" she asked Valerie in a whiny voice. "Um...no?" Valerie offered, despite the fact that she really wasn't sure. "If you act elegant, they won't anyway," she lied, wondering if Mara would buy it. "Fine," Mara muttered. "I'll try and be graceful this ONE time. But don't expect me to look like a duchess every day."

She stalked out of the room in a fury to her car, where she revved the engine. Valerie and Erik looked at each other in dread. No matter how fancy she looked, she was still the same old Mara.

Valerie vaguely wondered what would happen if someone hit on her. She had a feeling she didn't want to find out.


	4. Not Your Typical Nurse

A/N: In this chapter, I have made Mara a bit more on the wild side and despite the fact that she looks like an elegant person, her wildness still shines through-with a little help from a punk rocker.

Val and Erik were discussing one of their favorite shows, Mara noted with disgust as she drove wildly around corners, once almost hitting a Corvette, and another time hitting a mailbox, yelling out the window to the angered owner: "Sorry!" He told her what she was and where she could go in very colorful terms.

"Yeah, well same to you, jack!" she shouted back.

Val and Erik looked at each other, and suddenly bubbles of laughter rose in Val's chest at seeing this really elegant-looking person talking in the terms of a street-rat. It was so like _My Fair Lady _minus the romance that she couldn't help but laugh.

Mara glanced back in surprise as Valerie burst into peals of laughter and rolled around in her seat gasping for breath. She and Erik looked at each other, a bit scared. "Val? Are you, like, okay?" Mara asked cautiously. "Fine," Valerie gasped, wiping tears away from her eyes. "Absolutely...fine!"

"So, which _Star Trek _do you like again?" Erik asked after a pause and a moment of panic as Mara almost wrecked for the thousandth time. "_The Old Series_," she answered. Erik went on to say that he enjoyed TNG, whatever the heck that meant, and they were starting to converse about warp drives and such. Mara tuned out until they finally reached the theater.

"We're here!" she announced loudly, jerking the car to a stop. Val and Erik tumbled forwards, hitting their heads on the dash. "Ow!" they complained. Mara leaped out of the car, her dress skirt flying up. She pulled it down with little difficulty and Val inched out of the door, her head pounding.

"Next time, I drive, Mara," she said. "Agreed," Erik said as he came out of the other door. Mara rolled her eyes. "You guys have no sense of adventure," she said with a heavy sigh.

They walked up to the door where a very strict looking man was standing, apparently the ticket taker. They handed him their tickets and got in without very much trouble, which greatly surprised Erik as he was expecting Mara to do something stupid and get them thrown out.

"See?" Mara grinned. "I can be a lady." "We'll see," Erik said firmly. "You still have the whole rest of the play to screw up. What do you plan to do? Sneak backstage and get autographs and get thrown out? Or sneak backstage and then steal a costume? Or better yet-"

"Give her a chance," Val interrupted. "Yeah, gimme a chance," Mara said with a hurt look. Erik rolled his eyes. Just then, Valerie spotted something out of the corner of her eye. "Uh-oh, trouble," she whispered urgently to Erik. A man who looked extremely like a punk rocker was approaching Mara with a smirk on his face. "Get her out of here!" they both hissed at each other, both for themselves so they wouldn't get thrown out, and for the man's protection against having several very hard bruises.

Erik grabbed Mara's arm in a vise-like grip. "Hey!" she said, being dragged away from where she had been glancing at a poster. "What are you doing?" "Why don't you come over here and look at this poster, Mara?" he asked with a strained smile. "No!" Mara yanked her arm away with surprising strength and returned to her poster. Erik and Valerie stared in despair as the scene started to unfold.

"Hey," the man greeted her. Mara didn't even glance in his direction until he made 'some rude comment', as she later put it. She froze and Valerie winced in anticipation. "Excuse me?" she said. He repeated his words, calling her a 'chick'. Mara's face was starting to get very red with anger, and she scowled at him. "You did _not _just call me a chick," she said. He started looking confused, but quickly recovered and whispered something in her ear, slipping an arm around her shoulder.

"People aren't supposed to hit on other people at Broadway plays, are they?" Erik hissed at Val. "He's a street-rat," Valerie pointed out, and it was true.

By this time, Mara had reached her boiling point. "Boy, you had better back off before I count to five," she said, and proceeded to count to five. "Here she goes," Val said. "Five," Mara said, and drew back her arm, and punched the guy right in the eye. He yelled in pain and clutched his eye. Mara shook her fist, and kneed him.

He gasped, and bent over. Before Mara could do anymore damage to the punk, Erik and Val dashed through the crowd that had gathered to watch and pulled her away. However, she wrenched out of their grasp and returned to finish the job of teaching a hopeless womanizer a lesson he would never forget.

"You grab that arm, and I got that one," Erik said. They tried again, this time catching her and effectively pulling her out of the fighting ring. She had to be lifted off her feet in order to be pulled away. She kicked her feet and swung her arms, yelling insults at the poor man who was on the floor groaning. "Son of a bitch!" she screamed, and kicked her foot so hard one of her slippers flew off and hit him on the head-right at the temple. He went unconscious. Mara grinned victoriously and brandished her fist with a triumphant "Yes!"

Security entered, and the three vanished into the crowd quickly and with ease as medical teams attended to the man-medical teams from Mara's hospital, including Beth, the nosy nurse.

Mara giggled as Val and Erik directed her to their seats. "Did you see his face?" she cackled as they sat down. "Aren't nurses supposed to be caring people?" Erik asked. "Where'd you hear that lie?" Mara asked, breaking into laughter again. "Here is what nurses really are, according to Mara East: Nurses are people who enjoy caring for sick people and nursing them back to health. However, deep inside, nurses are savage beasts who are in reality street-rats and are very well educated in self-defense. If someone hits on them, you can bet that person will be in the hospital the next day, with the same nurse kindly caring for them as if nothing had happened. Then, when the person is all better, the nurse will punch him out again and quit her job so that she won't have to worry about punching him out _again_."

Val and Erik listened to this monologue with varying degrees of astonishment and amusement. Mara continued.

"And you can bet," she said, "that tomorrow, that guy will be in the hospital with my handiwork all over him. And guess who'll be caring for him?"

"Ooh!" Val and Erik chorused and started laughing along with Mara. Just then, the play started, and they settled in to enjoy the show, Mara's slipper missing, and her fist slightly bruised from hitting the guy's eye, living proof that nurses are more than they appear.

Just then, someone came to stand beside Mara's seat. It turned out to be Beth, who had snuck away from the emergency team for a moment to find her, recognizing Mara's screams and handiwork. She had helped to aid many other men who had thought Mara was nothing more than a 'babe', or a 'chick', etc.

"Mara," she whispered. Mara looked up in surprise, and then grinned. "Hi, Beth!" she said. "Good work," Beth complimented her, patting her shoulder and then running back to reach the ambulance before it pulled off. Mara laughed softly, and sat back to enjoy the show.


	5. My Immortal

Mara fell asleep during the end of the play, and so when it was finished, Erik and Val had to half-carry, half-drag her out of the theater all the while trying to avoid security.

They eventually made it, and hauled her into the backseat of her car, and sat down in the front seat, starting the car and turning on the radio where Evanescence's 'My Immortal' was playing.

They were silent for a while, just listening to the mournful, soul-filled music and creeping along in bumper-to-bumper traffic, the city lights flashing on their faces.

Erik and Val talked quietly for a while, and didn't realize that Mara was merely lying down on the seat, gazing up at the sky that reflected the city lights, where the stars were so dim they could hardly be seen, and the moon looked frail and fragile, as if its light could be extinguished with a single breath of air.

A single tear traced its way down Mara's cheek, and she reached up to wipe it away and glance at it, seeing it smeared with the mascara and eyeliner that Val had forced on her. It looked as if she had wept dirt.

This thought caused a small smile to come on her face, and just as quickly vanish again. She softly turned her head against the seat, smelling the scent of peppermint and mothballs. How she had missed that smell...she thought it had been forever since she had smelled it.

And memories swept back on her...

_Mara laughed as he pushed her down into a pile of leaves, and just as quickly reached up and pulled him down with her. Kaden lost his balance and nearly hit his head. They laughed together._

_Mara got up, picking leaves out of her hair. "Look what you did!" she accused him. "Look at my hair!" "Sorry," Kaden said sincerely, kissing her head. Mara grinned up at him. "Mm...it's okay, I guess," she said. "But you have to buy me dinner."_

"_Reminder to self: never push Mara into leaves again," Kaden said. Mara laughed, and they walked slowly around the park together, talking and laughing. As they walked, Kaden started humming a soft song, 'My Immortal', by Evanescence. It was a strange song for two people to call 'their song', but it was. When they had first met, it had been at an Evanescence concert, and both had loved the song. They reached the exit and stood for a while. _

"_Remember to pick me up tonight," Mara said. "Or else, you'll be really sorry!" "I'll be there, then," Kaden said solemnly. Suddenly Mara felt a tingle go up her spine and cold spread through her body and she shuddered violently._

"_Are you okay?" Kaden asked in concern, but Mara didn't answer. Fear pulsated through her whole body, and she clung to him in desperation, feeling that perhaps something horrible was about to happen. "Mara, are you all right?" he asked, now very concerned and alarmed by her behavior._

_Mara blinked back tears of fright, and pushed away, making herself be brave. "I'm fine," she smiled, not convincingly. "Just...be careful, okay?" "Sure," Kaden said, rubbing her arm soothingly. "I won't be late." Mara smelled the comforting smell of peppermint and mothballs on Kaden's jacket, and slowly her heart-rate went down._

"_Okay," Mara said, then looked at her watch and groaned. "Man, I'm late for my shift! I'll see later, okay?" "All right," Kaden said. "I love you." "And I you," Mara answered, blowing him a kiss and running down the street to the hospital._

_Later that night, Mara paced the room, dressed in her faded jeans and white T-shirt, angrily awaiting Kaden's arrival. As usual, he was late. _

_She sighed. Oh, well, she thought, I'll just watch TV until he gets here. So, she went over to the television and switched on the news. Just as the weather finished, there was a segment showing a car wreck on the streets of New York, relatively near her house. _

_Mara watching with a minimal amount of interest until they zoomed in on the cars. She leaned closer, and her eyes widened. One of the wrecked cars was Kaden's! _

"_Oh, God, please..." Mara prayed, dashing out of the apartment, even without her jacket to warm her. She ran into the cold streets of New York, and down the street, turning the corner where the wreck was. _

_Her eyes started to blur with tears as she frantically scanned the scene for Kaden, praying he was standing and all right. She pushed her way to the front of the crowd, and gasped. Kaden was being loaded into the ambulance. _

"_Let me through!" Mara pleaded with the police. "I'm a nurse, and Kaden's girlfriend!" "Kaden?" the policeman asked in puzzlement. "The man in the ambulance!" Mara explained. "Please!"_

_He thought about it for a moment, and let her through. Mara dashed to the ambulance and got in before it headed for the hospital. "Mara, what are you doing here?" Beth asked in confusion. Mara clasped Kaden's hand-it was so cold, so cold-and leaned over his face, her hair brushing his eyes. "Kaden, please, wake up," she begged him. _

"_Mara, is that-"Beth began, but didn't have time as Kaden started to go into shock. "Mara, get out of the way!" Beth shouted, shoving her aside, and trying to revive him. Mara watched, unable to help, because her pain was too great. _

"_Damn it, Mara, help me!" Beth screamed at her. "If you're going to be here, help me!" Mara reached over tremblingly and helped as much as she could, eventually starting to feverishly work harder, fear of losing the only one she loved escalating to both fear and anger._

"_Kaden, Kaden!" she screamed at him, over and over again. "Kaden, Kaden!" But finally, Beth and the other medical helper stopped. "It's over," the other doctor said. _

_Mara kept working, desperate to save him. "Mara." Beth's tone stopped her and she looked up. Beth looked back, sorrowed. "He is dead."_

_Mara looked at her hands, now stained with Kaden's blood. And she started weeping and sobbing , her heart feeling like it was broken forever as she watched the only one she had ever truly loved with all of her heart depart from the world, leaving her behind, alone. _

_Kaden was gone. And he had taken with him a part of Mara's heart, leaving her feeling empty and only half there._

"These wounds won't seem to heal... this pain is just too real...there's just too much that time cannot erase..." Val looked back, a little surprised that Mara was awake, and started to say something but stopped as she saw her friend only gazing up at the full moon and tears coursing down her cheeks in a steady flow.

"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears...when you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears...I held your hand through all of these years...but you still have...all of me..."

Erik and Val looked at each other, a bit unsure of how to handle the pain in Mara's voice as she sang with the song.

And Mara wept for Kaden...and she wept for herself...and she wept for the love that they had both lost.

But before either of her friends could say something, there was a bright flash of light and then there was black. And there was silence, broken only with Mara's own broken voice singing 'My Immortal'.


	6. Hello, Doctor and Admiral

Mara blinked her eyes open and found herself staring up at a white ceiling. She forced her dry eyes to blink again, wincing in slight pain as a headache began to pound.

She got up and looked around the room she was in, brushing down the skirt of her green dress as she did so, and holding her head in a loose grip, her now really tangled hair standing on end as she did not recognize her surroundings.

She was in a room with a bunch of strange-looking things that she assumed were beds, but had a bunch of buttons and computers and junk attached to them. There were doors to offices that were empty and dark, and cabinets filled with bottles and other things she did not recognize. She spotted a few tables that were bare, long, and empty, apparently just there for looks, but the surface was glowing.

Mara frowned slightly. It looked almost like a hospital. Mara shook her head in disbelief and then uttered a pained, "Ow!" as her head sent blasts of pain throughout, sending flashes of colors in front of her eyes.

She stood still for a moment until her vision cleared, and then looked around, taking extra care not to jolt her head too much. The thought of that pre-caution immediately flew out of her head as soon as she saw Erik's lifeless body. She uttered a short gasp, and ran over to his side, checking for a pulse, and sighed in relief as she found one.

"Thank God," she muttered. Mara had no intention of being held responsible for a senator's death. "He must have fainted," she said to herself. "The book says to gently shake him into consciousness." She scoffed. "Yeah, right. Since when have I ever done anything by the book?"

She grabbed his shoulder and roughly shook him until his teeth rattled. "Erik! Wake up!" she yelled in his ear. "OW!!!!!!!!!" Erik wailed as his ears started to ring and his head was a blur of pain. He felt his head touch the floor again, and when he finally got his eyes open, there were three women standing in front of him dressed in a green dress, arms crossed, and scowling down at him. Finally, the three women merged into one and he became aware it was Mara.

"Oh, no," he moaned. Mara rolled her eyes and bent down, grabbing his forearms and pulling him up. He wavered and held onto her arms to stand up straight.

Just then, the doors burst open, and a man dressed in a strange blue uniform ran in, helping to carry another man who was unconscious. "Sorry to interrupt your date, sirs!" the man said.

"_You think we were dating?" _Mara and Erik yelped.

Mara and Erik looked at each other in disgust and horror, and Mara let go of his arms, and Erik fell straight back to the floor, with a sickening thud.

"Ow!" Erik complained again. "Oh, be a man," Mara chastised him. "Dr. East, this man needs medical attention at once!" the man in blue said impatiently.

"_Dr. _East?" Mara repeated in disbelief. "I'm not a doctor, I'm a nurse!" "Dr., this is no time to play games!" the man said, now a bit angry. "Lt. Harris was hit by a phaser blast! He needs medical attention now!"

"But, I...I..." Mara said, helpless. The man continued over to help Erik up. Admiral, we need you on the bridge." "Admiral?" Erik asked, caught off guard. The man looked slightly puzzled. "Yes, sir. Immediately. Romulans are attacking and we need you." Erik immediately fell into his role. "All right. Follow me."

Before walking out of the room, he turned to Mara and smiled deviously. "Dr., I trust you have everything under control here?"

Mara gritted her teeth, and muttered, "Why, you little-"But he was gone in a flash, and she was left alone with an unconscious man. Clearly, she was not in New York anymore. Tentatively, she felt for a pulse. It was weak, but steady.

"Um..." Mara said.

"Dr.?"

Mara nearly jumped a mile high to hear a voice behind her. She whirled around and sighed in relief to see a puzzled looking woman in a red uniform behind her. "Why do you hesitate?" the woman asked.

"Well, I...are you a nurse?" Mara asked stupidly.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "I am," she said carefully. "Okay, then here's a test for you: what would you recommend we do now?" Mara asked, hoping the woman knew more than she did.

The nurse walked over, looking calmly at the man, and turned to Mara. "We give him a hypospray, some kihule, and total bed-rest," she diagnosed. "If it was only phaser, we will not have to surgically remove anything from his system."

"Exactly!" Mara said, relieved. "Congratulations, you pass." The nurse beamed with pleasure and waited. "What?" Mara asked. "He needs a hypospray," the nurse said, as if reminding her.

"Oh! Right! Hypospray, hypospray..." she searched different cabinets, scattering through different shelves and bottles dropped from the shelves and to the floor. "Where'd I put that damn hypospray?"

The now dubious nurse picked up a hypospray off the floor and handed it to her. Mara laughed nervously. "I knew that. I was just...testing you again. Congratulations once more, you pass."

As she and the nurse headed back to where the patient was resting and Mara tried to figure out how the stupid thing worked, while realizing that she was most definitely not in New York anymore.

Valerie smiled as she sat in the control seat of her Romulan warbird. Life was so beautiful, she thought. She was living out her life now as a Romulan in charge of a warbird, and was now attacking a Federation ship.

Could life get any sweeter? No, she thought, it most certainly could not.

Well...at least until a Romulan officer named Vokar walked onboard. She looked at him and couldn't look away. He was so cute...And then he looked at her, and they were caught in each other's eyes...

She was jolted out of her reverie as they came within firing range of a Federation ship. "Sir! Do I fire?" barked someone. She answered immediately, "Fire!"

And they fired at the Federation ship where Mara was hopelessly lost as a doctor and Erik was hopelessly wonderful as a leader...

A/N: Sorry if the Romulan and sickbay part was unrealistic: I wasn't quite sure what to do and I don't know that much about stuff like that. Also, sorry if the Vokar part was too much, Val...if you don't like it, rewrite it and I'll replace that section. ï 


	7. The First Fight

A/N: Okay, this is _my _story, and so I am making Erik however I want him. He will still be the same old Erik, he just will not always be the winner in everything as he is in real life. –growls angrily- Anyway, don't flame me.

Erik stared tensely at the view-screen as the Romulan ship came into view. "Shields up," he said over the blaring of the red alert. The shields were up, and the phasers were ready.

He would have fired had not Mara, who had been keeping a close eye on the situation, knowing how power-mad Erik could be (A/N: hint hint), and said, "_Erik, you idiot, hail them first!_" over a telepathic brainwave. At least, Erik thought it was Mara at first, but then dismissed it as being his own genius.

_It is not your own genius, you self-righteous, arrogant, over-adored-by-people pig!! _

Erik ignored the thought, and hailed the Romulan ship. Much to his surprise they responded. What surprised him even more was the fact that he recognized the woman sitting in charge. "Val?" "Erik?" _"Val?"_ "Mara?" "Mara?" _"Yes, you idiot!!"_ (A/N: Yes, that is confusing: all right, Erik said the first 'Val', Val said the first 'Erik', Mara said the second 'Val' telepathically, Val heard her and said the first 'Mara', Erik repeated the second 'Mara' and Mara answered the last 'Yes you idiot!!' telepathically. –sigh- Okay. On with the show.)

Erik resumed his stance of control. "Surrender now, Romulans: we are not afraid to fire our phasers." _Erik, stop acting so bossy! _He mentally kicked her. _Ow!!! That really hurt!_

"On the contrary, Federation dog, you surrender!" Val said. "No, you!" "You!" "You!" "You!"

_Would you two stop playing games already? _They both answered telepathically _NOT UNTIL HE/SHE QUITS FIRST!!! _ Mara replied with a sigh, _We'll be stuck here for eternity._

They continued 'no, you!'-ing for over an hour while both Federation and Romulan members attempted to strangle their leaders, mutiny, kill themselves and put themselves out of their misery, (which ended up in a busy day for Mara and the nurse), make the coffee machine overflow and drown them all, and last, but definitely not least, they tried to turn themselves over to the Ferengi. They were barely stopped.

Finally, Val and Erik gave up because their transmission was faulty and their phasers were growing cold (plus both of them could hear a café mocha calling their name in the distance as well as Mara's whining complaints in the background), and they began to play their parts.

"Surrender now, vile wretch," Valerie said as her phasers heated up again and the crews of both the Federation and Romulan ships cheered as they finally got down to business. "Thank God," Mara muttered as she put the last stitch into the final crew member who had somehow gotten into the cupboard where they kept scalpels and had tried to stab himself through the heart to make the noise of the two commanders 'no, you'-ing stop.

"Complete bed-rest and plenty of morphine," she diagnosed, writing it down on a clipboard as the nurse, who had identified herself as Nurse Johnson, placed the man who would have a _very _sore chest for quite a while into the bed nearest Mara's scrutiny.

"I would rather die than surrender!" Erik said heroically. The crew members all held their breaths as they had no wish to die-which was rather ironic, when you think about it, as they were all willing to die or sell themselves over to the Ferengi a few moments ago, but anyway I'm just babbling, so I'm sorry, I'll stop now.

"Then you have your wish!" Valerie said, and they commenced with the phaser-ing. Blasts rocked the ship and Mara nearly broke her foot as she mis-stepped. "I swear," she growled angrily under her breath as she made her way to the post-op where she could find a pillow to scream in aggravation to, "that I am so gonna kick his sorry little Federation butt, and hers isn't gonna feel much better either."

Mara screamed into a pillow in utter frustration as on the bridge the two continued to trade insults and damages to their ships.

Finally, the Federation ship turned and retreated back into space as their shields collapsed. It was only by some miracle that they avoided being hit by a phaser and being totaled, but they escaped, hearing the sounds of boisterous Romulan celebrating behind them.

................................................................

Valerie laughed with glee as she saw Erik and Mara blast away into the distance, and turned around to see Vokar standing right beside her.

They looked at each other, and Vokar slowly smiled, and said, "Congratulations, Commander." "Thanks," Valerie said, smiling back.

"Join me for some coffee?" Vokar asked. "Of course," Valerie said, rising. "I could use some caffeine right about now."

And so the two headed to get some coffee, a warm feeling rising inside of Valerie.

.................................

"Well," Mara said, sighing. "Well," Erik said, sighing as well. They were sitting at a table, hands around cups of steaming hot coffee, and not fighting even a little bit, which greatly surprised the crew as they had already recognized the two as mortal enemies and not in the least bit romantically involved.

"D'you think she meant to actually hit us?" Mara asked. "Possibly," Erik said, "although I doubt it. Most likely she wanted us as prisoners-or me, at least, as I am apparently in a great position of power." Mara swallowed her irritation at his arrogance because she wanted answers to some of her questions.

"Where are we?" she asked. "In the _Star Trek _universe, it would seem," Erik answered, sipping his coffee and grimacing as it burned on the way down. "I'm an admiral, you're a doctor." He cackled softly as he thought about the fact that he was an admiral.

"Is there any way to get back?" Erik looked at Mara in absolute astonishment. He nearly dropped his coffee he was so shocked.

"Why would you want to go back?" he asked. Mara looked at him incredulously as though he had suddenly sprouted another head. "Because we don't belong here?" she said, trying to clue him in. "Because we belong in the 21st century A.D. in New York City: me as a nurse, not a doctor, you as a U.S. senator, not an admiral, and Val as a lawyer/author, not a Romulan commander-if indeed that's what she is."

"She is," Erik assured her. "My point is," Mara said, "I want to go back. I don't like this century, this ship, or this universe. I like the 21st century, the earth beneath my feet, and being in the Milky Way galaxy-are we even still in the Milky Way?"

Erik rolled his eyes. "Yes," he said in disgust. "Well excuse me for not being a total _Star Trek _know-it-all," Mara said defensively. "Whatever," Erik said. He drained the rest of his coffee and bid her farewell. "I am returning to the bridge," he said. "I would suggest you return to the sickbay." "Maybe I don't want to," Mara said. He bent down a little bit. "Tough," he said. "Go. Now."

"Party pooper," Mara grumbled as she headed her own way, back down to the sickbay, her mind full of questions and wondering how in heck she could get back to her home.


	8. The Real First Fight

A/N: Remember how last chapter I titled it 'The First Fight'? I was really wrong. Anyway, in this chapter, I need to inform you that both Erik and Mara took judo classes during college, so that explains that.

Mara lay in her bed, tossing and turning restlessly in the dark room, trying hard to fall into a world filled with dreams and magic, but failing miserably. She finally got up, and went over to her closet, where her eyebrows raised at seeing short dresses with the skirts coming up to where her thighs would be.

"No...way," she said incredulously. Seconds later she was stalking through the halls in a bathrobe, prepared to talk Erik's ear off.

She banged angrily on Erik's door. "Erik!" she hollered at the top of her lungs and pounded on the door again. "Erik! Open this door NOW!" People up and down the hall cracked open their doors, looking at her like she was insane.

"Hi, sorry to disturb your sleep, everyone," Mara said sweetly. Then she returned to her scowling and proceeded to bang. "Erik, you jerk! Open the door!"

The door slid open, and Erik reached out to drag her in, the door whisking shut behind her.

Mara took a breath to speak, but Erik held up a hand, his eyes weary. "Before you start," he said, "may I remind you that people have active imaginations. Please, please, I _beg _you-do not come to my room at night again."

Mara stared at him in incredulous disgust. "Wimp," she finally said, and then said calmly, "I couldn't sleep tonight." "Gee, Doctor, how horrible," Erik said sarcastically, taking a seat in a chair. "Maybe you should get a prescription for a sleeping pill. Oh-wait. That's _your _job. And that is your problem?"

"No," Mara said. "My _problem _is the fact of what is in my closet!" she yelled. Erik moaned. "I knew this moment would come, but couldn't it have come earlier in the day?" he asked her. "No," Mara said. "First of all, the fact that all the women wear these uniform-y dress type thingies is beyond me. How sexist. I mean, look at them! They come to their _thighs_," she said in a horrified whisper.

"Mara," Erik said in exasperation, rubbing his brow, "do you have a problem with your thighs?"

The next moment, Erik found himself on the floor with one arm twisted behind his back and burning quite painfully with Mara's foot digging into his back.

"_What _exactly, are you insinuating?" Mara asked through gritted teeth and she wrenched Erik's arm harder. Erik sighed, and finally said, "I am getting tired of being beat up by girls." "Aw..." Mara clicked her tongue sympathetically. "Poor ba-"But she never finished her sentence as Erik wrenched his arm away and swept her feet out from under her and she crashed on the floor with an anguished "Ow!"

He got up, and extended his hand to Mara, which only infuriated her more, so she took his hand and bent his fingers back, to which he grit his teeth to keep from howling in pain.

She got up, and fell into a judo stance, bouncing slightly on her heels. "Come on!" she invited him. "Let's finally see who's best!" Erik shook his head. "I only use my judo moves in _defense_," he said, glaring slightly at her. "That was defense," Mara answered, glaring back. "You insulted me!" "I never insulted you!" Erik protested. "I merely asked if-"

He caught Mara's wrist as she lunged, and twisted it slightly. She drew back a little, and kicked his shin in a childish gesture. He grimaced a bit, but didn't let go of her wrist, fearing that he would have a black eye in the morning if he did. He didn't anticipate her other hand swinging around with full force. The next moment, his eye was stinging and she was shaking her now free wrist in slight pain, and then they returned to their defensive positions.

By now, Erik was getting more and more angry with her, and so he dropped his commitment to only use his skills for defense. He struck out, and she barely dodged his hand by a quick movement of her head.

Mara leapt at him, her hands clawed and aiming for his eyes. With quick reflexes, Erik grabbed her arms and flipped her over onto the floor, shoving his foot into her abdomen. She choked and gasped for breath, and with lightning fast speed she swung her legs up and he lost his footing and fell to the floor beside her.

She leaped up, and smoothed her hair back, taking a deep breath. She permitted Erik to get up, hands on her hips and breathing deeply to ease her dizziness.

He breathed heavily, wiping away some blood on his upper lip, and said, "If it makes you feel any better, Dr. East, there's nothing wrong with your thighs."

Mara let out an outraged squeak, and punched his other eye. She waited for him to recover, but waited too long, as he hit her eye and she was bent over as well now, clasping her eye and wishing she could kill him without having to suffer consequences.

She touched her nose, and realized it was bleeding. She looked at Erik with sudden hatred, and wiped her hand on her bathrobe, leaving a red smear. Erik rolled his eyes. "Could you at least use a Kleenex or something like a normal person?" he asked. "Why?" Mara asked. "Because it's the polite thing to do!" Erik answered, kicking at her gut. She swerved aside. "You know I hate politeness!" She swung her arm at his chest and he blocked. "That's _blatantly _obvious by the way you _drive_!" Erik said, grabbing her arm and wrenching it behind her back, then grabbing her other arm. "The way I drive has absolutely _nothing _to do with _anything_!" Mara protested, swinging her head back and hitting him on the jaw. She felt his grip loosen on her arms and launched her head into another attack on his jaw. Erik stomped on her foot and she yelped a little as her bare foot throbbed in pain. "Body language describes a person more accurately than anything," he reminded her. "So, I'm guessing right now you're _mad_," Mara said, emphasizing 'mad' as she banged her head on his chin again.

"Excuse me, sir?" Both Erik and Mara whirled around as a woman in a red uniform looked at them in horror and hurriedly turned and ran out shouting over her shoulder, "Excuse me, I'm sorry!"

Erik and Mara looked at each other in horror, and Erik let her go to quickly close the door, which only made things worse as the people who were watching outside snickered.

"Oh, great move, _Admiral_," Mara said. "Now they think we're...we're..." she shuddered. Erik didn't say anything, just moved back into a judo stance. "Final round," he said. Mara's mouth twisted into a sneer. "Fine by me," she said tightly, and whirled around, her leg hitting his gut and knocking him across the room. He made a brilliant comeback by doing an unexpected spin and then going low and using his legs to knock her off her feet.

Mara rolled to the ground and suddenly lost her balance. Instead of leaping gracefully up, she tumbled to a stop. In the short moment that she tried to find her bearings, Erik had pinned her to the floor. They stared at each other, both breathing heavily and then slowly Mara relaxed.

She sighed. "You win," she admitted glumly. "Let me up." Erik hesitated a moment, trying to discern if she were in earnest or not, and finally let go of his hold on her, but kept himself ready in case she tried any sudden moves.

Mara slowly got up so as not to startle him, and sat down in a chair, wiping her bleeding nose and gingerly feeling a bruise on her forehead.

Erik sank down into another chair with a deep sigh. They looked at each other. "You're gonna have two black eyes tomorrow," Mara said, sniffing and trying to control the blood flow.

Erik sighed again, and got a Kleenex pack and handed it to her. She took it gratefully and dabbed at her nose. She held out the now completely red Kleenex to him and he sat up a little straighter to avoid it, and pointed to the trash can. Mara rolled her eyes and went to throw it away.

"Well," Erik said, "You're gonna have two purple eyes tomorrow. Purple doesn't go good with your green uniform." Mara protested, "No way am I wearing those uniforms: they are sexist, ugly, and perverse."

"Have you even seen _Star Trek_?" Erik asked her. Mara shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Not recently," she admitted. "Have you ever seen anyone make a move on anyone in the series?"

"Um..."

"Exactly. Although why anyone would want to hit on you is beyond me," Erik muttered, but Mara heard and glared. "Erik, I will not wear a dress that short," she said. "I never have, and I never will."

"Wanna bet?" Erik asked. Mara looked down. "Not especially," she muttered rebelliously. "You will follow the rules on this ship," he said. "Hmph. Wanna bet?" Mara retorted. Erik just kept a steady gaze on her and finally she said, "Fine. Whatever. But I will hate you for the rest of my life."

"What else is new?" Erik asked. They were silent for a while, and then finally Mara said, "You know that we just beat each other up about a dress?"

Erik thought about it for a moment and then started laughing. "Yeah," he said. Mara started giggling too, and both forgot about their pain and Mara about the fact that she had lost a battle to a man she despised with all of her might.

And so they laughed.


	9. No, We Are Not Dating!

A/N: I do not own _Sesame Street_ or _Star Trek _just to clarify.

Valerie strode down the hall of her RIW Kaleh, Vokar by her side. They had become fast friends within the past few hours, and were now eagerly hunting down Erik's ship.

"Is there any news of anything?" Valerie asked him as they walked. "We think they might be returning to Earth, perhaps, or Vulcan," Vokar answered. Valerie stopped and faced him. "Well, which is it?" she asked impatiently. Vokar shrugged and she sighed. "Can't our scanners work any better than this?" she asked.

"Well, one's broken and the other is borrowed," Vokar answered, a teasing light in his eyes. Valerie laughed, and they continued to walk.

"If you do not mind my asking," Vokar said, "what does the name 'Valerie' mean? It's an odd sort of name."

"Valerie means evil," Valerie said. "It fits, doesn't it?" She laughed. "But you are right: it's hardly a fitting name for a commander." "_And _chairman of the Tal Shiar," Vokar said. "How could you forget that?" "I'm a Chairman?" Valerie asked in disbelief. Vokar looked at her a little dubiously. "Yes," he said.

"Oh. Right. I knew that," she lied. "Anyway, you're right about the name thing. I should change it. Hmm...in fact, I think I'll head to my quarters now and consider possibilities. Alert me if you find the Federation ship."

"All right," Vokar said, and they parted.

Mara woke up gradually, sensing someone watching her. She blinked her eyes open and screamed in fright to see a woman in _her_ room sitting in _her _chair watching her. She gasped in shock at seeing the nurse who had worked with her the other day, and clutched her heart.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she finally got her breath, and started to raise her head, and then moaned at the headache and laid it back down. The nurse giggled and came over to Mara's side.

"Sorry," she said. "I just couldn't wait for you to wake up. I just _had _to ask you: what's it like to date the commander?"

"WHAT?" Mara screeched, raising up and then groaning in pain, sinking down again. "Did you just ask me what it's like to date the commander?" she asked her. The nurse nodded eagerly, kneeling by the bed and propping her head on her hand. "Give me juicy details," she giggled again.

Mara looked at her in shock, disgust, and a vague sense of amusement. "I mean, when Julie walked in on you two last night-you know," the nurse continued, "she was _so _embarrassed. But now that someone's finally dating him, we can find out...stuff."

Mara thought she was going to die of gagging. "Do you need a trash can?" the nurse asked in sincere fright. Mara waved her away, trying to control her gag reflex, and managing to keep the bile down.

"Okay, look, what's your name?" she asked the nurse a moment later. "Um...Rhonda," the nurse answered. "Okay, look, Rhonda," Mara said, pulling her head down towards her own. "I want you to hear this, and hear it well, all right?" Rhonda looked puzzled, but nodded, putting her ear near Mara's mouth. Mara took a deep breath and shouted as loud as she could, "Erik and I are NOT dating!!"

Rhonda pulled away, her hand over her ear, and an offended look on her face. "Geez, no need for that," she protested, trying to hear over the ring in her ears.

"Actually, Rhonda," Mara said, "I've found that the only way to deal with people who start rumors and are hopelessly in love with gossip is to shout the truth as loud as possible and hope they hear it for what it really is! I have never...done anything with Erik, and I'm sure he will agree with me."

Rhonda looked at her and said nastily, "Well, that's not what it looked like last night." Mara rolled her eyes and looked towards the ceiling for hope of the Rapture so she wouldn't have to talk to this woman anymore. Nothing. She looked back at Rhonda and said quietly, "Things are not always as they appear."

Rhonda was about to make a quick comeback when she saw Mara's eye and gasped. "Oh, my-did he _beat _you?"

"_Beat_ me?" Mara asked in shock. "Your...your eye!" Rhonda gasped again. "My eye?" Mara touched her and was instantly awash in pain. "Oh...yeah, my eye."

"Oh!" Rhonda was gasping with indignation now. "How-what...what a monster! Oh, don't worry, he'll pay for this! I'll alert Starfleet immediately!"

"What? No!" Mara grabbed Rhonda's arm. "He didn't beat me!" "You didn't have that bruise yesterday," Rhonda pointed out, "and your nose wasn't swollen to the size of a mango."

"Listen," Mara said, swallowing a grin, "if you could see _his _face right now, you'd realize I wasn't the only one who was beaten."

Rhonda looked at her, and then to the door and let out a strangled little squeak in confusion. "But...but..." she stammered. "Trust me, Rhonda, nothing romantic happened last night between Erik and I...if anything, we gave each other black eyes, swollen noses, headaches that you wouldn't believe, and incredible brain damage," Mara said matter-of-factly. "Now, go to sickbay, and I will be down soon."

She shooed the reluctant, confused Rhonda out the door, and collapsed on her bed in pain, and swore he would totally pay for this.

Erik stared at the ceiling, his whole body aching. Just then, there was a knock on his door, and he bid them enter.

A man in a yellow shirt came in and sat down by the bed. "What is it?" Erik asked hoarsely. "Well," the man said excitedly, squirming in the chair, "we...that is, some of us..." Erik sighed in exasperation. "Anyway," the man continued, "we were wondering-what's it like dating Dr. East?"

Erik choked on his spit, and sat straight up, coughing. The man had to clap him on the back to help him breathe. When he finally regained oxygen, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "ARE YOU COMPLETELY SANE??????????????????"

The man got out of the chair, and took a few steps back. "Um. Yes," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Mara and I," Erik said, "are not dating. Look at what she did to my eye!" he said, pointing to a very black eye. "Does that look like something a person would do on a date?"

"Well, okay, new subject," the man said. "What's it like to..." he drew in his breath slightly, "hold her?"

"That's it!" Erik roared. He got up and swayed on his feet as dizziness took over, but quickly regained his balance, and shoved the man out. "Stay out, and if I _ever _hear about this again, I swear, I'll have you demoted!"

Finally, when Erik called Mara on her little metal thingie, she forced herself to get up, although it hurt more than anything.

She didn't want to look in the mirror, but there was one on her closet door, and she caught a fleeting glimpse of her reflection: two purple eyes, just as Erik had predicted, a swollen nose, a bump on her head, and bruises on her arms and one very abnormally large foot.

She groaned again, and slowly got into her uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror again, and closed her eyes, praying this was all a dream and she would not have to wear this ridiculous outfit.

She shook her head. Erik was right; purple didn't go good with green. She sighed and walked to sickbay, feeling very paranoid and vulnerable.

She arrived in sickbay out of breath, to see Erik lounging in the office. As she walked in, smoothing down her hair and uniform, all of the patients' eyes simultaneously followed her as she walked into the office, hoping to see something interesting.

Mara looked at him angrily. "What?" he asked.

"You lied," she answered sullenly. "I got hit on twice." "Oh." Erik cleared his throat. "Maybe on the TV series they cleaned it up a little or something?" Mara's steady glare unnerved him, and he cleared his throat, and looked around the room.

"What do you need?" Mara growled. "Listen...I just wanted you to know that your name doesn't have to remain Mara," Erik answered. "You're allowed to change it." "No, thank you," Mara answered.

Erik shrugged. "Okay. But from now on, refer to me as T'Son, or better yet, Admiral." "Hmph. Not likely," Mara said.

"All right, then," Erik said, getting up. "Mm-mm. Wait a minute," Mara said, her eyes glittering in a way that made Erik _very _nervous. "I was looking through some files yesterday and I happened to come across your medical record. You haven't had a check-up in over six years, Erik." She shook her head. "You ain't goin' nowhere," she said, adopting a country accent.

Erik groaned. "What exactly are you going to check?" "EW!!!!!" Mara shrieked. "You have SUCH a dirty mind!" Erik smiled. "What can I say? I'm a politician."

"Okay, get on the table," Mara said. Erik sighed and got on the table, swinging his legs rebelliously like a small 6-year-old. "You do know how wrong that sounds?" Erik asked her. Mara looked at him warningly and he shut up.

"Hmm," Mara said, writing something down. "It looks like you took a pretty hard beating. Let me guess: 300 pound man, really big fists, um...oh yeah! Phaser set on...stun?"

Erik glared. "You don't look so good yourself," he answered. "Your nose is the size of a kiwi." "Mango, actually," Mara said, writing something else down. "Why would anyone hit on you when you look like _that_?" Erik asked. "Don't ask me," Mara answered. "I'm sure I don't know. Breathe." Erik breathed.

"Hmm. Your breath is shaky. You're gonna need a shot for that," Mara said, pulling out a needle. "Why isn't there anything in the needle?" Erik asked as she inserted the needle. "It's invisible," Mara answered flatly, pushing. "Ow!" Erik protested as she pulled it out. "You did that on purpose!" he accused her.

Mara shrugged, but didn't deny it. She looked in his ears. "Ooh. Look at that. Lots of fluid. You're gonna need a shot for that." Erik looked at her warily, but let her give him an injection of the "invisible" fluid.

"Remind me again, when did they come up with this?" Erik asked. "2324," Mara answered, pushing it in. "This is 2271," Erik said. Mara froze, her eyes looking around the room. "Uh...I mean, silly me," she laughed. "Did I say 2324? I _meant _2224, of course." "Yeah, I'm sure," Erik said, looking at her suspiciously.

Mara took his blood and examined it quickly. "Ooh, look at that. You're gonna need a shot for that." "What now?" Erik asked in exasperation. "Your blood is...uh...red," Mara answered. "Dr. East?" Erik asked. "Blood is always red." "Eh," Mara said. "Yours is supposed to be pink. Haven't you read your file?"

"You are lying, and I am out of here," Erik said, starting to get off the table, but Mara yanked out the needle and planted a hand on his chest and pushing him down. "We are not done with your check-up, mister," she said. "Now, if you're a good little boy, I'll give you a Band-Aid with Elmo from _Sesame Street _on it!"

She stuck a stick down his throat to test his gag reflexes-they worked. As he threw up in the trash can, she glanced at the stick and said, "Ooh, look at that. There's green stuff all over the stick. You're gonna need a shot for that."

"That's my vomit!" Erik yelled at her. "Get on the table now, mister!" Mara ordered him, pointing at the table. "If you do not have a yearly check-up, Starfleet will get mad. You haven't had yours in _5 years_. I'm sure they'd be _very _interested to find out about that."

Erik glared helplessly at her, and got back on the table. She gave him another shot of the invisible fluid. "Anything else, Doctor?" Erik asked sarcastically. "One more thing," Mara answered. "We need to X-ray."

She took out a portable X-ray machine and put it next to his head. It beeped a little, and she took out the picture. "Ooh, look at that. There's a white round thing in your head with teeth and eye sockets. You're gonna need a shot for that."

Erik gritted his teeth angrily as she gave him yet another shot. She pulled out a Band-Aid that she had brought with her, and placed it on his arm. "There, now was that so bad?" she crooned. "Now-orange or grape lollipop?"

Erik scowled at her, and said sullenly, "Grape." She pulled out a grape lollipop and handed it to him. "Wow," Erik said. "You weren't lying about Elmo, were you?" "Well, actually, I was," Mara confessed. "That's the Cookie Monster."

Erik left the sickbay with a very sore arm in addition to all his battle wounds, a Cookie Monster Band-Aid, and a grape lollipop to nurse him back to help.


	10. A First Date

Valerie sat in her seat. No, she corrected herself, now she was Toreth. A vast improvement. Toreth the Romulan. Commander Toreth of the RIW Kaleh. Toreth, chairman of the Tal Shiar... 

Just then, she received word that the Praetor was expecting her to call him. Toreth squared her shoulders, and got him onscreen. "Commander Toreth, I presume," the Praetor greeted her. "Praetor," Toreth acknowledged.

"Commander, your orders are as follows: track down the Federation ship the USS Royale. You will take the Admiral, T'Son, as your prisoner. Then, destroy the ship, with everyone else on board."

"Who is this T'Son of whom you speak?" Toreth asked. "You know..." the Praetor said. "The person you were 'no, you'-ing to the other day. We got several complaints about that, by the way."

"Erik?" Toreth gasped in shock. "No, T'Son!" the Praetor said impatiently. "Fulfill your orders, Chairman! Once they are completed, the Emperor wishes to see you." "Thank you, Praetor," Toreth said, and he disappeared from the screen.

"Follow the Federation ship, the USS Royale, as we have been doing previously," Toreth said. "Tell me when we have them in our sights. Do not fire until my command." She strode off the bridge, as she was late at a meeting with Vokar in the library.

Moments later, Toreth arrived at the futuristic library, where computers lined the walls and data padds were available if needed. She looked around, and walked to where Vokar was sitting at a table.

"Hi, Vokar," she said, sitting down beside him. "Chairman," he greeted her with a slight nod. "I need to discuss with you a matter of extreme importance..." They talked for quite some time about different things, ranging from the Romulan government to such minute details as the color of the RIW Kaleh, and should they get it painted or not?

"Oh, Vokar, I had a wonderful time," Toreth sighed as she regained her breath from laughing. "Thank you for listening," Vokar said. "Oh, by the way, Toreth-"he stopped her as she started to get up.

"I was wondering if you would join me on the holodeck tomorrow evening?" he asked. Toreth's pulse went full-speed and her heart soared. "That would be great," she said. "I'll bring the wine." "I'll bring the food," Vokar said. "See you later, then," Toreth said. "All right," Vokar agreed. As Toreth walked out of the library, she felt she could fly from the heady feeling she was experiencing. She couldn't _wait _until tomorrow night.

* * *

"Mara!" T'Son shouted. "Uh-oh," Mara muttered under her breath, and quickly turned to store away some files. T'Son stormed into sickbay and stood behind her, hands on his hips and fuming.

"Where are my two lieutenants?" he asked her. Mara slowly turned to him, a sweet smile on her face that spoke of innocence and confusion. "Why, T'Son, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about!" she said. "Why would you accuse me of taking your two lieutenants?"

"Because they were the same two lieutenants who supposedly hit on you the other day," T'Son said. Mara shrugged and turned back to her filing. Rhonda glared at him, and muttered, "Monster. Beats his own girlfriend." Unfortunately, it was not quiet enough to be unheard by both Mara and T'Son, who whirled around and glared right back.

"Oh, you mean _those _two lieutenants?" Mara asked. "Oh, um...I do seem to remember escorting them down to the morgue...they wanted to...experience the thrill." She stifled a laugh as she turned back to the files once more.

"No." T'Son grabbed Mara's arm and whirled her around again, his face white. "You...you didn't." "Oh, on the contrary, I did," Mara said, choking on her laughter.

T'Son let go of her arm and raced out of sickbay down to the morgue as Mara bent over in laughter.

Moments later, a very displeased T'Son and two very disgruntled lieutenants were in her sickbay. "Mara-"T'Son said warningly. "One moment, please, gentlemen, I shall be right with you," Mara said, sweeping past them to give a hysterical patient some morphine-or the futuristic equivalent, anyway.

"Now." She turned and smiled. "How may I help you today? Might I recommend super sizing the fries?"

"Dr. East," T'Son began in a very formal tone, "I found these two officers in the morgue tied up in body-bags, and they say that they have been there for over two days."

As if to emphasize his words, one of the lieutenants' eyes rolled up, and he collapsed to the floor in a dead faint. Mara looked at him, and then smiled at T'Son. "Don't worry," she said as she helped pick him up off the floor with Rhonda. "It's quite natural when one has been locked up in the morgue for two days. A combination of stress, emotional trauma, and dehydration most likely."

She dropped him with a bang on the bed, and turned back to T'Son. "Well, that's that! Would you like our free McNuggets Value Meal with your order?"

T'Son closed his eyes and counted to ten, then opened them again and asked quietly and firmly, "Dr. East, may I see you for a moment?" "Actually, sir, I'm very busy right now: the lines at the drive-thru are incredibly long, but if you'd like to talk to Rhonda, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to-ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

Mara kind of skipped over to wear T'Son was standing as he dragged her over, his nails digging into her still sore arm. "What?" she groused, pulling her arm away and examining her bruises which were now turning black again, thanks to T'Son's vise-like grip.

"Mara, you need to grow up," he said seriously. "Starfleet cannot have a childish doctor in it." Mara rolled her eyes. "Hello? Don't you think that's _why _I'm acting childish?" she asked. T'Son's expression remained blank, indicating he did not understand. "I'm being childish so I can get _out _of Starfleet," she explained. "I hate Starfleet. Stupid uniforms, stupid people, and...apparently people who cannot take a joke or a hint as to when to back off," she said, glaring at the lieutenant who was still conscious, who was gazing into empty space as a result of the nerve-wracking trauma he had endured being very close to dead corpses.

T'Son debated: he could either fire Mara and be rid of her nuisance and let her have the satisfaction of knowing she had won; or, he could keep her on and make her life miserable as she continued to mess up his.

It was a hard choice. He had very nearly decided when he saw Mara's eager face staring at him, and he changed his mind. "You're staying," he said abruptly, and turned to walk out. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Mara said, desperately running after him and grabbing his sleeve. He tried to shake her off, but she hung on. "Please, please, please!" she begged him. "I _hate _Starfleet, I _despise_ Starfleet! If you bear any pity for me, I _BEG _you to please consider this!" He looked at her, and announced, "I have had no pity since you beat me up."

"Oh, come on," Mara said as he dragged her a few feet and tried again to shake her off his sleeve. "Can't we forget about that little incident? I already have!" she said, despite the fact that she was still very much angry with him. Apparently, he realized that, and didn't answer, but again tried to shake her off.

"What are you, a Post-It?" he asked. "Rhonda, get over here," he motioned. Rhonda came over quickly and grabbed Mara's legs and pulled. Mara only wrapped her arms more tightly around T'Son's arm and sobbed, "No! Please!!" T'Son and Rhonda pulled and finally there was a ripping sound and Mara and Rhonda tumbled to the floor, part of the fabric of T'Son's shirt in Mara's hand.

T'Son looked at the ripped sleeve of his shirt, and sighed, shaking his head. Mara grinned sheepishly, and handed him back the fabric as if he could somehow magically reattach it.

"You're staying," he said again, and motioned for the lieutenant to follow him and they left.

Mara looked up at the ceiling from where she sat on the floor and let out a wordless scream of despair that echoed throughout the USS Royale. She would never escape this mad world.

* * *

Toreth arrived at the holodeck, carrying glasses and a bottle of good Romulan wine that she could never pronounce the name of.

She looked around and sighed in amazement. She was staring down upon towns, and trees, sitting atop a mountain with a beautiful sunset with colors of pink, purple, red, and gold coloring the mountains at the horizon.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Toreth turned and saw Vokar walking towards her. "Immensely," Toreth agreed, and they sat down on the grass. "Wine?" Toreth offered, and Vokar accepted. "Cheers," Toreth said, and the glasses clinked together before they drank.

They ate slowly, enjoying the view and each other's company, talking about this or that, such as Vokar's life, and Toreth's former life-of course, she had emitted the fact that she had been a human.

"Mm," Toreth sighed as she finished the last of her food. "That was good," she said. "I'm surprised." "Why? Did you think the food would be horrible?" Vokar asked. "I had my doubts about you," Toreth teased. "You don't look like the kind of person who likes good, normal food." Vokar laughed and moved a little bit closer, and they took each others' hands.

"You know, I used to be friends with T'Son," Toreth said. "Really?" Vokar asked in surprise. "How is that possible?" Toreth shrugged. "I ran into him a couple of times. We became friends but then when I became Chairman of the Tal Shiar, we...kind of lost touch. I was also friends with Mara East..."

"Dr. Mara East?" Vokar asked, and now Toreth looked at him in surprise. "Um...yes, I suppose," she said. "Why? Have you heard of her?"

Vokar looked at her incredulously, and said, "Everyone's heard about her! She's come up with several valuable medicines and new healing techniques! At least two kidnap attempts have been made on her, only three less than the kidnapping attempts made on T'Son."

"_Mara_?" Toreth asked in shock. "_Mara _has almost been kidnapped? Boy, if she had, I pity her captors. She'd talk their ears off."

"Once by the Ferengi, and once by the Romulans," Vokar answered. "That attempt failed, unfortunately...say, perhaps we could get her as well as T'Son. The emperor would surely be pleased."

"And it would be a good chance to meet up with two old friends again," Toreth mused, and then smiled at him. "I really like the way you think," she said. "That's good," Vokar said.

They looked in each other's eyes, and then slowly leaned in and kissed.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know this chapter was not as funny, but I decided I needed to include more of Valerie/Toreth and Vokar, so I did. Plus, the chapter yielded some surprising information to me as well. I personally had no idea that Mara actually had the patience to invent new medicines and healing techniques...oh, the things you learn about a person...


	11. Captured Because of the Stinkin Flu!

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update-not that anyone's reading except a few. Oh well. :D Anyway, here's the next installment. I might not be able to write more for a very long time, unfortunately, because I will be studying for my semester exams, which suck-majorly.

Mara grimaced as she ate her dinner. "Problem?" Erik asked as he came over to sit by her. Mara glared at him. "I have several problems," she answered. "One, I am aching all over from fighting with you, which was one of my biggest mistakes _ever _as it only enhanced the opinion that you and I are having an _affair_, which in itself is the most disgusting idea ever created in God's galaxies; two, I am wearing a stupid dress that makes me feel very insecure and I have been hit on twice more-"

"One moment," Erik said, holding up his hand. "You didn't lock these in the morgue, did you?" "No," Mara said, "I shoved them in the waste disposal system." "Are you serious?" Erik asked. "To copy you, no, I'm Mara," she said, "but yes, they are now quite uncomfortable." Erik sighed in exasperation. "Continue."

"And thirdly, the food here is worse than army food, which is very hard to believe," Mara finished. "Twice my pepperoni pizza has tried to crawl off my plate, and I think there's something living in my Coke." Erik peered into her glass, and leaped back as something inside it definitely moved.

"Ah-ha," he said. "Sounds horrid." "Yeah, and you could set me free from all my misery by just firing me!" Mara said. "No," Erik said. "Not likely." Mara groaned in frustration, and was about to slam her head on the table when she thought twice of it: afraid that her head might start aching again, and also afraid that the pizza might try to crawl on her.

"Go away then," she moaned. "'K," he said cheerfully, and went to dispose of his lunch. "Could you throw the Coke away while you're at it?" Mara asked, her voice muffled as she rubbed her sore eye.

"I'm not going anywhere near your Coke," Erik said. "I'm too afraid it might try to suck my brain out." "That wouldn't be a bad thing," Mara shot back weakly. Erik peered closer at her. "Dr. East, are you all right?" "I'm fine." Mara forced herself up, feeling her head aching even more. "I have to get back to work." "You don't look so well," Erik said. Mara laughed. "Concerned about my health, Admiral? I'm fine. I just have a headache that reaches down to my ankles. Now leave me alone. There are a lot of sick people that need taking care of."

"Yeah, yourself included," Erik said. "Go lie down. You look like death." Mara laughed at him. "Well, wouldn't that be a good thing for you?" "Not when you're the only doctor on this ship," Erik said. "You're flushed, shivering, and look like you're about to hurl on my shoes."

"You're very observant, Admiral," Mara said, and her chest started heaving. "Whoa, whoa!" Erik leaped back as Mara threw up right where his shoes had been. As soon as she was done, she collapsed on the floor, her eyes staring dully around the room. "I didn't know they still had the flu in the twenty-third century," she said. "You have the flu?" Erik asked as he and some nurses helped her up. "That would be my diagnosis," she said. "Either that or the pizza was a poisonous snake in disguise."

"So you're contagious?" Erik asked. "Yup," Mara said. "Are you sure you have the flu?" Erik asked anxiously as he let another nurse take the arm he had been holding. "To quote on of the loves of my life, 'I go hot and cold. I have enough nausea to light up the city of Toledo, and I have fever to burn. Now am I sick or just in love?" The next second her head lolled back and she went completely limp against the nurses as they bore her away to her rooms.

"Great, just what we need," Erik groused. "The flu. Well, back to work people! Let's hope the nurses can handle this."

* * *

Within two days, practically the whole ship was down with the flu. One poor frazzled nurse was trying to run everything by herself, giving shots and trying to keep everyone happy all at once. Even Erik had the flu but he stubbornly didn't let himself feel the effects of it and kept on leading the ship while people dropped like flies all around him.

Mara was finally starting to feel better and was trying desperately to recuperate to help with the sick people, but so far she couldn't even get up without falling down again. So she lapsed into a sleep full of dreams-both disturbing and sweet.

* * *

"Admiral!" a panicked ensign called out. "Yes?" Erik cleared his head of the fog that he had absent-mindedly let take over him. Only pure willpower was keeping him from falling over and hurling his guts onto the floor. "Romulan warbird!" But by now it was too late, and Erik collapsed into unconsciousness, feeling the comforting blackness embrace him and he drifted into a dreamless sleep as the flu took him over. And the ensign prepared to be blasted away to death-but the warbird merely took them into its tractor beam and pulled them closer.

* * *

Mara pulled herself from the haze to hear people running around and calling to each other in urgent voices. She pulled herself up, and pulled on her robe, holding on to the wall to keep her world from turning her upside down.

"Rhonda!" she called out, sounding like a weak puppy. "What's happening?" Rhonda hurried over to her, eyes wide and her lips in a straight line. "The Romulans have us in a tractor beam," she said tightly. "Get back in bed." "Which one?" "Which one what?" Rhonda asked in confusion. "Which warbird? The RIW Kaleh?" "Oh, hell, I don't know," Rhonda said. "They all look the same to me."

So she got back in her bed, but insisted on keeping on her robe. As soon as Rhonda was gone, she put her hand under her pillow and pulled out a phaser she kept there, just in case a stupid crewman went too far. She switched it on and listened to the faint steady hum, and pushed it to kill.

"They're coming!" came the faint cry, and Mara took that to assume that the Romulans were boarding the ship, or they were sending Federation members to board the Romulan warbird. Either way, she didn't care.

Mara shoved herself up and out of the bed, hauling herself along the wall, and managed to close her door with a soft whisk, and hid in the dark corner of the room where she could easily shoot any intruders. _I can't believe I'm doing this, _she thought to herself. _I've never killed anyone. _She glanced at her phaser, wondering briefly whether she should only set it to stun, and did so, not thinking that she could manage to kill someone-even if they weren't a human being. She was in the saving-people's-lives business, not the taking-people's-lives business.

_I hate my guilty conscience,_ Mara thought. _That got me into trouble in college when we dissected cats. I cried for weeks._

Just then she heard a fierce voice ask, "Where is Dr. East?" Mara gripped the phaser tighter in her hand, as her heart beat faster, and the world started spinning again. Just then her door whisked open, shedding light on her. "Dr. East-" began a Romulan, but Mara didn't even let him finish as she squeezed the trigger and stunned him. As more Romulans started pouring in, she aimed and stunned as much as she could, although she missed nine times out of ten since their were three of each Romulan in her blurry vision.

Finally, one Romulan grabbed her arm and took away the phaser, but Mara reached out desperately with her other free hand and found a spare crowbar that she also kept by her bed, and there was a clang as metal met flesh, and the Romulan's eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the floor. But before Mara could grab the phaser, another Romulan took away both the phaser and the crowbar, and tossed them to another man.

"Get up," he said in a harsh voice. Mara stared at him, trying to decide whether to give him one of her snappy comebacks or a very sore shin, but as she was about to swing her foot at his shin she thought twice as her head started to spin again.

And so she pushed against the wall and stood up. "Let's go," the Romulan snapped at her, and grabbed her arm as he started to walk, then stopped again when she started stumbling as she wasn't sure whether she was going to walk into a wall or not. "Sorry," Mara lied, "but I can't walk. I have a fever of 102.7, I believe, and the flu. Are Romulans susceptible?"

The Romulan looked at his other comrades and they shrugged. He rolled his eyes and started to just drag her along the floor. "Leave me alone!" Mara protested. "I can walk!" He raised his eyebrow, and let go of her arm. Mara fell down with a thump. She sighed miserably, and gave him her hand and he half-carried half-dragged her to the transport room.

Mara gasped at seeing Erik's limp form. "What did you do?" she demanded. "Is he dead?" "No, he's unconscious," one of the Romulans answered her. "I think he's sick." "Oh, perfect," Mara muttered. "The admiral just _had _to choose this moment to give in to the flu."

Mara stared straight ahead as the Romulan kept a firm grip on her arm, and wished that she had never gone to see that stupid Broadway play as her atoms were whisked away to the Romulan warbird.


	12. Remembering

T'Son blinked his eyes open to see a stark grey ceiling staring down at him. He blinked and instantly wished he hadn't as pain shot through his forehead. "Ow," he moaned. Suddenly more pain was driven through his temple like a knife and bright colors flashed before his eyes as someone smacked his head and shouted, "You idiot!" "Ow!" T'Son moaned, and listened as Mara started her long and well-rehearsed speech: "You idiot! You friggin', absolutely stupid idiot! You are the dumbest, most absurd imbecile I have ever, and will ever, most likely, know!" "That's because I'm a politician," T'Son said. "A very _sick _politician. Do you have anything that will stop the pain? Doctor?"

"Do I like as though I have any medical supplies?" Mara shouted at him, and he winced, ears ringing and the room spinning around. "I am wearing a friggin' bathrobe and fuzzy slippers for Hera's sake! Although I must admit, the fuzzy slippers _are _nice, fluffy and warm, but that's really beside the point right now!"

"What is your point?" T'Son groaned. Silence. T'Son opened a slit of an eye to see Mara looking thoughtfully at the wall. "Hmm. I think the point was being able to yell at you and you not being able to do anything about it."

"How are you able to yell and not kill yourself while doing it?" T'Son asked. "You still look sick." "My throat is fine," Mara explained. "I developed an immunity to sore throats while at Veritas-there were so many going around that eventually I had them all." "Veritas…?" "My old high school." "Oh."

They were both silent for a moment and then T'Son realized something. "Why are you standing up?" "Because you're lying on the only cot available." "Oh. Did she do that on purpose?" "That would be the most logical assumption, yes, I suppose she did so." "That's my line." "So what?"

They were silent again, and T'Son ventured, "Are you sure you don't have _anything _that will help?" "Nope," Mara said, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the cold, slightly damp floor. "Not even a Cookie Monster Band-Aid. Sorry, I know how much you love those." T'Son wanted to glare, but it hurt too much. "I have a lollipop, though." T'Son opened his eyes again as Mara looked in her bathrobe pockets and pulled out a slightly smushed orange lollipop and handed it to him, pulling out a grape for herself as well.

"You have these things everywhere," T'Son said, unwrapping it. "Don't think I didn't see the stash of candy inside your desk back at Starfleet. That's where I got my Snickers bars." "I _knew _you had taken them!" Mara exclaimed. "Thief!"

They were silent again, sucking on their lollipops and thinking their own dismal thoughts; T'Son's laced with the opposite of reason, being fever-ridden, Mara's the opposite of reason, being herself.

"Look at that," T'Son said softly. "What?" Mara asked. "We knew each other." Mara paused and looked over at him. "What are you talking about?" "We knew each other before this," T'Son said. "You're delirious," Mara said.

"No," T'Son said. "I think…I think we met before we did. We…we went into a house together. Do you remember?" Mara got up and put her hand against T'Son's head, trying to see how much fever he had and finding it hard to tell as her own hand was hot as well. "Shut up, T'Son," she said. "Go to sleep."

Mara didn't hear much from him as he dropped off to sleep, muttering something about someone named Hank and a girl named Natalia. Exhausted herself, Mara nodded off against the wall, shivering with cold and a strange sort of fear.

"Are they locked safely in the brig?" Toreth asked Vokar as they walked down the hallway of the RIW Kaleh. "Of course," Vokar smiled. "By the way, are we on for dinner tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" Toreth grinned. "Of course I'll be there. I just have to check on our prisoners first." "See you there," Vokar kissed her and headed for the bridge while Toreth walked down to the brig.

* * *

"NO!" Mara was startled awake when T'Son screamed. She scrambled up, clutching her head and wishing the room would stop spinning so fast. "T'Son, what's wrong?" she shouted, shaking him awake. T'Son looked at her, eyes wide. "We did meet before," he breathed. "I know." "T'Son, we have never met before you came to New York," Mara persisted, trying to cover him up with the blanket and keep him warm, but failing because it was so thin.

"Mara, we met before!" T'Son said, surprising her by pulling himself up and grabbing a hold of her shoulders. "T'Son, whatever it was, it was a dream," Mara said sternly. "No!" T'Son said. "It's not! Don't you remember? Natalia, and Hank, and the phone calls…and the house, you were so scared of that house, and-" "It was a _dream_!" Mara shouted, shoving him down. "Don't you remember Carolyn?" T'Son yelled at her. Mara froze, having no idea why that name struck such dread in her. "You were so concerned about her, remember?" T'Son said. "You thought she had been hurt."

Mara just stared at him. A memory stirred, but she shook it off. "You're delirious," she said flatly. "Go back to sleep. I don't remember anything you're talking about." "Yes, you do-Rachel." Mara turned around from where she had been bending over to get water from the bucket they had so graciously been given and stared at him. "How did you know my given name?" she whispered. "I told you!" T'Son said impatiently, starting to cough. "We've met before!"

Mara's gut wrenched and a shiver chilled her spine. "But we couldn't have," she said slowly. "I don't remember you." "I remember you," T'Son said. "Your hair was a lighter brown than it is now, and it was always tangled. Your eyes were a bright blue, and you wore dog-tags and a pink shirt all the time. One of your favorite words was 'rocking', as an exclamation. You were in love with Hawkeye Pierce from MASH, and you swore you would never date or get married, and you were born in Ames, Iowa."

Mara turned a stark white, and all the blood pooled down in her feet. "I never told anyone that," she whispered. "No one. No one knew I swore I wouldn't date. No one." "But me and Valerie!" T'Son said. "We knew, because we have met before!"

Mara stumbled and fell to the floor, backing towards the door, her eyes wide and frightened as she stared at her friend. "Think, Mara," T'Son urged, coughing violently.

"If indeed we did meet, and we somehow forgot, how could you remember and I forget?" Mara asked. "I just now remembered," T'Son said as earnestly as he could. "I remembered-I looked over at the wall and it wasn't there…I saw an old house and Valerie, you, and me were going into it. And…I remembered." "That's…that's impossible," Mara said. "I never lived near an old house." But as she said the words, an involuntary streak of fear shot through her and she shivered.

"No, you remember," T'Son said, laying his head back down again, his momentary strength gone and the fever taking over again. "Your mind just won't let you." "I'm the one who studied psychology, not you!" Mara snapped. T'Son looked at her, eyes intent. "Try to remember," he said. "I think it's important." And he fell asleep, leaving Mara wondering about whether or not he was right.

* * *

"Hello, Mara." Mara awoke with a jerk, lifting her head from her hand and squinting through her bangs at the door, where Toreth's voice had issued from. "Hey, Val," she said half-heartedly to the Romulan. "How did you get to be Romulan?" "As long as you have the right humility, guile, and cunning, anything can go your way," Toreth said briskly. "How is T'Son?" "Concerned?" Mara said with a half-mocking smile. "Yes," Toreth said. "It won't do for my prisoner to die halfway to Romulus, would it?" "Oh, well of course not!" Mara said, acting offended. "Wouldn't want that to happen. He could use warmer blankets, though. I think he's delirious and getting worse."

"I'll send some down immediately," Toreth said, and paused as she turned to leave. "Are you sleeping on the floor?" Mara gave her a look that could kill. "You expect me to sleep next to _him_?" "Preserves body heat," Toreth said realistically. "I'd rather die," Mara said. "I'm sure he feels the same way. Plus, he snores." Toreth laughed and started to leave again, but was stopped by Mara saying, "Have we met before?"

"What do you mean?" Toreth asked, turning around again. "I mean…" Mara fought to find the right words. "Before we met each other at the coffee shop, did we meet before? Because T'Son said all three of us have."

"I don't see how that's possible," Toreth said. "I had never seen you before that moment." "I know, it sounds crazy," Mara laughed. "But…I don't know, T'Son knew things about me that I had never told anyone: the love of my life, where I was born, my favorite shirt and necklace, almost everything! The only thing he didn't was _why _I wouldn't marry, and I…" her voice trailed off as her hand fluttered at her shoulder. "He said…we had gone into an old house, and something about a girl named Natalia and a man named Hank, and Carolyn…" She shuddered, and suddenly an image of a young girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and wearing a broad smile and a pink sundress appeared in her mind's eye-and everything came flooding back.

"Oh…" Mara gasped, hyperventilating. Toreth frowned, and reached through the bars. "Mara, don't die on me. You're my prisoner." "He was right!" Mara gasped, grabbing Toreth's shoulders and pulling her towards her. "T'Son was right about everything, Val! We did know each other, and we went into that old house, and oh my God, Val!"

Toreth wrenched herself away from the bars as Mara started to get hysterical. "He was right! The…the house, it wasn't lived in by a man named Hank…it was a _demon _who we named Hank! And Natalia was part of our group, and Carolyn was a little girl, and she was-" "MARA!" _Slap_! Mara stumbled back, holding her cheek where Toreth had slapped her. "I'm sending a medic with an anti-psychotic," Toreth said shortly, and started to leave. "Toreth! Try and remember!" Mara pleaded with her. "You have to remember! We called each other every day and talked for four hours! Please, try and remember!"

But Toreth turned a deaf ear as she walked away, but as she thought about whoever Mara had named, Hank, apparently, a chill ran down her spine.


	13. Romulan Flu and Toreth Remembers

A/N: Everything displayed in this chapter is fictional, just so you know. None of this is based on real life events. The italics indicate dreams. Much love!

Mara sat back down, discouraged, defeated, and for some reason oddly afraid. She looked over at T'Son who had fallen into a restless sleep as a result of high fever, again. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. Why was she so nervous? It didn't make any sense-well, apart from the fact that she was locked in a Romulan brig and could be killed any minute, but this was a different kind of fear.

It was the kind of fear that took over your whole soul…the kind of fear that made you want to curl up and just sob. She hadn't felt this way for ages, it seemed. And she supposed it was. Mara coughed hoarsely, and gulped down some water.

Just then, a Romulan guard entered the brig, and stood in front of the door, carefully loading a syringe-the anti-psychotic that Toreth had lovingly prescribed, Mara assumed. Her muscles tensed as she waited for the guard-or doctor, whichever you prefer-to come and give her the medicine.

The Romulan came forward, eyes on the syringe, and Mara leapt forward, her hands clawed and grasping for his wrist. Mara grabbed his wrist as he shouted in anger and tried to insert the syringe in her arm. With all her strength, Mara kept the syringe as far away as she could. Unfortunately, the guard was too strong for her. Fortunately, T'Son had woken up and was able to help her. They wrestled the guard to the floor, and T'Son pinned him down while Mara quickly injected the anti-psychotic into the Romulan's system.

A few moments later, the guard was babbling on about blue ponies and sounding more psychotic than anti-psychotic. "Thanks," Mara said breathlessly, and T'Son nodded, holding onto the wall as he tried to steady himself from the dizziness.

"Get the keys," he rasped out, and Mara blushed, embarrassed that she hadn't already thought of that. She quickly retrieved the keys, and went over to the door to unlock it. The brig door swung open with a beatific screech, that sounded more angelic than anything else Mara had ever heard before in her life.

"Okay, let's go," she said, turning to T'Son. "Right," T'Son said, and walked slowly out of the brig, leaning against the wall for support. "Oh, great," Mara sighed. "We will never make it out of here with you acting like a turtle!" "Not my fault!" T'Son snapped at her. "_You're _the one who got infected first! You probably brought it on the ship! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now!" "Yeah, will if you had just FIRED me first, you wouldn't have lost at least three of your male personnel to the waste disposal system, morgue, or Siberia a day, either!" Mara shot back.

"Oh, shut up," T'Son groaned. "It's not like humans are immune to viral infections," Mara continued. "I mean, you act as if-" Mara was cut off the next second before she could say anything as a burly arm was wrapped around her throat and threatened to squeeze the air out of her lungs as she kicked desperately for freedom. "Son of a-" Mara started to shriek, and then the next moment, she felt a disrupter placed against her temple, and she stopped kicking the Romulan in the shins immediately. "Son of an angel," Mara said, smiling sweetly up at the Romulan.

As the hold on her throat increased in intensity, Mara stopped talking as she realized that talking apparently wasn't allowed here. As Mara considered the odds as to whether or not she could escape safely (she calculated them exactly 50-50, although she was probably wrong), the thought of escaping flew out the window as he pressed the disrupter even tighter against her forehead.

"Don't…play with me," the Romulan growled in her ear. Mara coughed and was about to offer him a Tic-Tac but thought twice about that one as she didn't want to upset the demon from-the _darling _little angel. "I can assure you, I had no intention of playing with you," Mara rasped out and gasped for air as she couldn't breathe.

"Shut up," the guard barked at her. He motioned to T'Son. "Get back in the brig." T'Son went into the brig immediately. "Let's go," the guard said to Mara, and they walked off down the hall, disrupter pointed at Mara's back.

T'Son rolled his eyes and groaned, and now wished he had fired Mara when he had the chance.

* * *

"Hello, Mara," Toreth said pleasantly as Mara walked into the room, wincing as the disrupter stuck painfully in her back. "Mara, this is Vokar," Toreth said, motioning towards Vokar as Mara stood at the front of the room, now with two guards surrounding her. "Vokar, Mara."

Vokar made no move to say hello to the Federation prisoner, so Mara made the first move. "Charmed," she said. "Welcome to the Kaleh, Dr. East," Vokar welcomed her. "Gee thanks," Mara said dryly. "By the way, Tori, I _love _my rooms. Simply adorable. The interior decorator did a fabulous job with the way he arranged the cot, the slime, and the rats motel right next to the waste disposal unit. Fabulous view-Ow." Mara shut up as the disrupter once again dug into her back and it hummed.

"Well, Dr. East," Toreth said, "we've brought you here so that you can reveal some new healing techniques to us. All you need to do is explain it to us, and we'll do the rest."

Mara scoffed. "Are you kidding? Like I would expose valuable Federation information to barbari-_ow_! All right, you've convinced me. Well, I ain't got all day, let's get this show on the road."

For the next four hours, Mara carefully and meticulously explained every detail of her life's work-always at the threat of death, as Toreth preferred it, of course. (A/N: lol MARTINI!!)

"And that," Mara finished with a sigh, "is how you can cure mentolistglohemia. Please, hold your applause: I know my work is ingenious. Can I go lie down and die now?" "Certainly," Toreth said, and motioned for a guard. "I was kidding!" Mara laughed, slapping the table. "Girl, don't you know how to take a joke?" She cleared her throat, and said, "By the way, do you think you could give me something besides a bathrobe to wear? Just out of mild curiosity."

"Well…" Toreth said. "The only clothing onboard is a Romulan uniform." "Is it warmer than wool?" Mara asked. "Oh, yes." "I'll take it." "That could be considered an act of treason against the Federation," Toreth warned. "It's no different than wearing a MASH outfit to the hospital when I'm supposed to wear my nurse's uniform," Mara answered. "I've been looking for a way to get fired anyway."

Toreth shrugged. "Okay," she said. "Riklo will help you get dressed." "Actually, that's very kind of you, but I've been dressing myself for about 22 years now," Mara said. "I think I can handle it."

"Whatever," Toreth shrugged again. "Get T'Son after you've helped Mara, Riklo." And then she sneezed. And sneezed again. She was silent for a moment and then looked accusingly at Mara, who smiled smugly. "Got flu?" Mara inquired.

* * *

Mara huddled underneath the covers of the cot in the warm Romulan uniform, grinning as she thought about Riklo's black eye, and wincing as her stomach protested where Riklo had slammed the disrupter in her gut.

T'Son had been gone for about five hours now, Mara thought, and wondered if maybe he was receiving medical treatment for the flu.

After T'Son was thrown into the brig, Mara seriously doubted it. She got out of the cot and helped him into the bed. "How was it?" Mara asked, sitting down on the floor again. "Um…"T'Son said. "It could have gone better." "That bad, huh?" "Pretty much." They were silent, and then T'Son smiled and said, "Toreth kept sneezing and coughing throughout the whole thing, though." Mara giggled. "By this time tomorrow, the whole ship will probably be infected."

* * *

Mara was correct. The next day, half the ship had called out sick, and when Toreth said that no more people could call in sick, about a third of them called out dead.

Toreth was watching a holovid, her nose bright green and a bag of cough drops and a box of the Romulan equivalent to Kleenex beside her. Every so often, she would tear her eyes away from the screen and let a cough drop dissolve on her tongue or blow her nose. "I love this movie," Toreth sniffed, watching as Apollo 13 landed safely back on Earth.

"How did you get this ancient holovid?" Vokar asked, coming into her room. "Oh, hi, Vokar," Toreth sniffed, pausing the screen and pushing a pile of used Kleenex and cough drop wrappers out of the way so he could sit down.

"Are you feeling any better?" Vokar asked, kissing her forehead. "Yeah," Toreth said, coughing. "It could be worse. I think I'm delirious. My nose weighs ten pounds. My voice is practically gone. I'm burning up. I have absolutely no energy. Much better. I mean, yesterday the list included vomiting. So far I…haven't…" And with that, she promptly threw up in a bucket she had lying on her lap.

"Okay," she said, collapsing back on the pillows. "Maybe I'm not so good. Could you hand me the Lindt's Lindor truffles?" Vokar tossed her a box and she muttered thanks as she unwrapped one and proceeded to eat it. "Won't that just make you throw up?" Vokar asked. "No," Toreth answered. "It's the bread of life. Ambrosia of the gods. I swear, if I had ever met the guy who made these, I'd have given him his own warbird." "Um. Wow," Vokar said.

"I think I'm going to sleep now," Toreth said drowsily, and dropped off before Vokar could say good night.

* * *

"_Are you coming?" Stephanie asked Rachel, standing halfway up the stairs. Rachel stood undecided, twirling her earring. "I'm trying to decide whether or not to stay here or go with you," she said. As Stephanie stood silent, she made it clear that she was going up whether Rachel went or not. Rachel sighed. "Okay, I'll come with you," she said, an uneasy feeling in her gut._

_They climbed the stairs and stepped over a block of wood that prevented anyone from entering the front door of the house. "Look at this," Rachel said. There were chairs stacked on top of each other, an ancient TV set, and a picture on the wall. "Look," Rachel said in a hushed tone._

_The two girls stared at the picture. It was normal enough; it was a beatific scene depicting white fluffy clouds and an angel ascending to heaven. The strange thing about it was that the angel's back was turned._

"_Come on, let's go in this room," Stephanie said, pointing to a bedroom at the back of the house. "Okay," Rachel said agreeably. They stepped over trash and even a jar of lollipops that were from the 1970s at least._

"_Hey, look, a photo album," Rachel said, pointing at a photo album lying on the bed of the bedroom. She and Stephanie went into the room and Rachel started to reach for the photo album but stopped short at seeing something furry on the cover. "What is that?" Rachel asked. Stephanie reached out and flipped the furry thing over-to reveal a dog's head. "Is…is that a dog?" Rachel asked in a hushed whisper. Suddenly the girls noticed the corpse of the dog-its claws curled and the skin tight around the bones. Strangely, there was no sign of blood._

_They stood in shocked silence for a moment until suddenly a horrible feeling of evil swept over them, the tell-tale metallic taste of it in Rachel's mouth, almost like blood. "Let's get out of here," Stephanie said in a low voice, and they dashed from the room and down the stairs, Rachel shrieking "Oh my God! Oh my God!" Stephanie unconsciously shushed her, her mind somewhere else, and she heard a loud knocking sound coming from behind them as they ran outside of the house and to the top of the road._

* * *

Toreth moaned and tossed restlessly in her bed, sweat beading her brow as she was wracked by the nightmare-or was it a memory? Before she had time to fully wake up, she fell back to sleep…

* * *

"_Ready?" Stephanie asked them. Rachel and Nathan nodded, and Rachel gripped the pocket-knife tighter with one hand as Stephanie held the crucifix out in front of her and held Rachel's hand with her other. Rachel held onto Nathan's hand and all three bravely walked into the basement door of the house, prepared to face whatever evil might lie there._

_Already Nathan and Rachel could feel the presence of something evil lurking in the upstairs, but were determined to go upstairs. They reached the stairs and Nathan gasped as if he had seen a ghost. (_A/N: No pun intended LOL) _"I can't do this! I can't do this!" he said, and ran outside, Stephanie and Rachel quickly following._

"_What is it? What's wrong?" Stephanie asked. "I've seen those stairs before," Nathan said breathlessly, shivering and dizzy from the evil he felt. "I know it sounds crazy, but I've seen those stairs before, in a dream. I dreamed we three went up the stairs and one of us rushed forward into the room and got hurt. I'm sorry, but I can't go upstairs."_

Toreth moaned louder, and thrashed around in the bed-sheets, Kleenex and cough drops dropping to the floor.

"_Her name is Carolyn. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a pink dress. Something bad happened to her"…"I can't go up those stairs"…"You have to see the dog, Nathan. I don't know why, but you have to"…"We need that photo album! I don't know why, but we need it"…"He barred the door! Damn it, he barred the door and now we can't get it!"…"Don't go there again"…"He was black, and had eyes of cold fire, and a smile that was pure evil"…"Who owns it? Can we explore there?"…"He took a kid inside and the kid didn't come out! He locked the door and I couldn't get in, and I could hear him crying through the walls, and he was so scared! I couldn't get to him, because I'm not strong enough or brave enough to open the doors and rescue him, and now he might be dead because of me!"…"It's just a life, it doesn't matter"…"**I'm waiting for you, child of light**"…_

* * *

Toreth screamed and wrenched herself from sleep, sweat pouring down her back and shivering all over as Hank's voice that had spoken to Mara so many times before in the past echoed in her head…a voice of pure evil and darkness.

And suddenly the memories were able to flow freely and she shuddered with the impact of memories once forgotten now remembered.

"It was real," she whispered, wiping her brow. "They were telling the truth! We did know each other somehow…oh, it was real!"

* * *

Mara and T'Son just stared at each other, not saying anything. What was there to say? They were locked in a Romulan brig with practically no hope of returning to the USS Royale safely and alive.

They turned as they heard panting and keys turning in the lock of their brig door. Both stared at Toreth as she staggered into the cell, eyes wide. "I remember," she gasped out, sitting down against the wall. "I remember everything!"


	14. Graffiti and Vomit

Mara, T'Son, and Toreth—now that they had remembered everything—knew they had to do something, but didn't know what. So, they decided to hold tight and wait while Toreth stalled before reaching Romulus every way she could. Since the ship was infected with the Romulan flu, they were allowed to drift in space for several days, waiting for the flu to die out.

* * *

"MARA!" "Uh-oh," Mara groaned, banging her head against the cell wall. T'Son looked up from where he was writing graffiti on the walls, such as _Romulans Suck! _And _Mara is the most annoying person in the multiverses_, and smiled. "What'd you do this time?" he asked. "Um, Val, or Toreth, probably tried some of the healing techniques I showed her on some of her sick Romulan friends," Mara answered. "What's wrong with that?" T'Son asked, "or do I want to know?" "Probably not," Mara replied.

The brig door flew open to reveal a very furious Toreth, who was clutching her blanket around her and sucking on a cough drop. "MARA, I WILL HAVE YOU KILLED!" Toreth screamed hoarsely around her sore throat. "You know, Toreth," Mara said, "if you keep screaming like that, your sore throat will get even worse. I would suggest lying down, watching some sappy romantic holo-vids, crying your eyes out, and making yourself sick on truffles."

Toreth ignored her advice, and started pacing around the cell. "How DARE you lie to the Chairman of the Tal Shiar!" she bellowed. "I never lied to you," Mara said. "About what?" "About your medical technology!" Toreth screamed, and then coughed, made a motion as if she were about to throw up, and did—all over T'Son's graffiti. "Hey!" he protested.

Mara laid back on the cot, hands behind her head, looking quite smug. "Listen," she said, "I never lied to you. I told you my medical technology secrets—I just didn't tell you they were harmful to Vulcans. What happened?"

Toreth took a sip of their water. "I expect to be paid back for that," a still angry T'Son muttered. Toreth glared. "Two of my finest guards were stricken with mentolistglohemia, and we gave them the medicine you prescribed, and they turned blue, then red, then pink, started coughing up balls of what looked like owl pellets, and then their intestines burned inside their stomachs, acid poured into the kidneys, and then they died with green foam coming from their mouths, you bitch!" She hit Mara with a disrupter.

"Ow!" Mara complained, rubbing her stomach. "That really hurt, Toreth." T'Son was grumbling as he wiped vomit off of his works of art, and shooting daggers at Toreth's back with his eyes.

"Well, you should be hurting!" Toreth shot back. "Those were my finest guards…" "Eh. So they're dead. You'll get better ones." Mara leaned back again and closed her eyes. "Mara, I want the true medical techniques and procedures, and if you don't, I'll vomit all over you." A hacking sound made Mara leap up and put her hands in the air. "Okay, okay!" she yelped. "Let's go, then!"

"Wait!" T'Son said with disgust as he cleansed his hand in water. "A disrupter shoved in your gut doesn't make you flinch, but the thought of being covered with Toreth's vomit makes you want to tell her Federation secrets?"

"I'm squeamish," was Mara's only reply as they walked out of the brig. "Then why are you a nurse?" T'Son asked the empty room.

* * *

"And this is the real information?" Toreth asked, shoving a disrupter to her head and hacking. Mara flinched. "Ew, ew, YES, I SWEAR!" she howled. "Take her away!" Toreth demanded imperiously. Mara was dragged back to her cell and thrust in, where T'Son glared. "Traitor," he pronounced.

"Hmph," Mara sniffed. "I hate vomit." "So do I, but the Federation doesn't like traitors," T'Son said. "I know," Mara said, "but this is the perfect opportunity for them to get rid of me." "Ha! You wish," T'Son said.

Mara laid down on the cot, watching as T'Son meticulously drew an "a" on the wall. "If you get rid of me," Mara said in a wheedling tone, "you'll be the most popular man on the whole ship." "Why?" T'Son glanced back before continuing his writing. "Because men don't hit on me anymore because they're deathly afraid of being set adrift in space with only water and a small supply of rations and no bathroom, or being sent to the hottest mountain in Vulcan, or—" T'Son interrupted her monologue. "Maybe so, but keeping my personnel fearful is good for them."

"You sound like a Romulan," Mara commented. "Maybe so," T'Son repeated, laying down his piece of writing utensil and standing back, looking happily at his masterpiece. "Huh. Cute," Mara said admiringly. "I like the way the phaser has a little edge to it. Although, the trigger looks slightly rounded." "You think?" T'Son asked. "Definitely," Mara said.

On the wall, T'Son had written, 'T'Son', and drew a phaser beneath his name, and then beneath the phaser written, 'Mara'. "I think it's good, though," Mara said. "Do you mind if I sleep on the cot tonight?" "No problem," T'Son said, already mesmerized as he drew another anti-Mara slogan on the wall.

Mara drifted off to sleep to the sound of T'Son's piece of metal scratching the wall, and into a dream…

* * *

"_Quick!" Mara urged Toreth. "We have to get to it fast, otherwise we'll miss the portal!" "I'm going as fast as this thing will let me," Toreth retorted, speeding the small vehicle into space. Mara shoved T'Son against the wall that he was already smushed against to get more room._

"_We only have five minutes!" Mara said agitated, looking at a calendar and seeing the star-date 598737, and then at her old-fashioned watch, which said 9:55. "Hurry!" T'Son urged. "She's gonna kill me!"_

"_There it is!" Mara gasped, pointing ahead and shoving T'Son's head against the wall. Right in front of them, a portal of blazing orange light shone, getting dimmer and dimmer. Out of impulse, Toreth slowed the vehicle. "We're gonna miss it!" Mara shrieked, and shoved the gas pedal—or whatever you call the thing that made it speed up—to the maximum, sending them shooting through the portal just as it closed._

* * *

Mara jerked awake, her heart beating wildly, and flung herself off the cot to where T'Son still sat, bags under his eyes, admiring his wall of anti-Mara sayings. "Gimme the metal!" Mara gasped, grabbing the sharp point and stabbing her hand.

"Hey! What's your problem?" T'Son asked defensively. Searching her mind, Mara slowly wrote on the wall 598735-and then scratched it out. Not right. 587635-no, not right. Suddenly, she got it, and quickly wrote down Star-Date 598737, 9:55.

"Aw!" T'Son complained. "You wrote over my best phaser drawing!" "Look!" Mara pointed excitedly. "That's when the time portal opens up! Then we can go back and make things right!" T'Son looked at her cautiously. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Look!" Mara said impatiently. "That's when the time portal opens up. We have to go through it and stop Hank." "From doing what?" T'Son asked. "I dunno," Mara shook her head, "but I just have a feeling."

"That's in three days," T'Son said. "Yes!" Mara punched the air. "One problem, Girl Wonder," T'Son said dryly. "Where does the time portal open up?"


End file.
